The life, and martyrdom of Abraham Lincoln, sixteenth President of the United States, and Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States

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Digitized by the Internet Archive

in 2010 with funding from

State of Indiana through the Indiana State Library

http://www.archive.org/details/lifemartyrdomofaOOwill

PRESIDENT LINCOLN.

THE LIFE, AND MARTYRDOM

OP

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

SIXTEENTH

PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES;

AND

COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE ARMY AND NAYY
OF THE UNITED STATES,

"With a full history of his Life ; Assassination ; Death, and
Funeral. His career as a Lawyer and Politician ; his services
in Congress ; with a full account of his Speeches, Proclama-
tions, Acts, and services as President of the United States, and
Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy, from the time
of his first Inauguration as President of the United States,
until the night of his Assassination.

PHILADELPHIA:

T. B. PETERSON & BROTHERS,
3 0 6 CHESTNU T S T It E E T.

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1864, by

T. B. PETERSON & BROTHERS,

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, in and for the
Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

CONTENTS.

MM

Birth of President Abraham Lincoln, and his ancestors.... 21
His grandfather killed by the Indians and scalped — De-
scription of his parents 22

" Abe" goes to school — The Lincoln Family remove to In-
diana 23

Death of Mrs. Lincoln — " Abe" learns to write — His father
marries again — " Abe" finishes his education 26

He becomes a hired hand on a flatboat, and goes to New
Orleans 27

The family remove to Illinois — "Abe" seeks his fortune
among strangers 28

He takes another trip to New Orleans — Becomes a miller
and salesman — His services in the Black Hawk war.... 29

Is nominated for the Legislature and is defeated — Becomes
a merchant and surveyor — Is elected to the Legislature
— Studies law 30

A thrilling incident in his legal career 31

A protest against slavery — Is a candidate for Presidential
Elector — Mr. Lincoln is elected to Congress — His votes
and speeches during his Congressional term 32

Becomes a delegate to the National Convention of 1848 —
He is nominated for United States Senator, but with-
draws 40

He is again nominated for the Senate — His speeches in the
celebrated Lincoln-Douglas campaign — His tribute to the

Dcx taxation of Independence 41

Pen-Portraits of Abraham Lincoln 43

Mr. Lincoln is defeated by Mr. Douglas — Is then named
for the Presidency — Evidence of his skill as a Rail-
splitter 47

His great speech at the Cooper Institute, New York 48

Is nominated for President of the United States by tho
Republican Convention 64

(U)

13 CONTENTS.

PAGB

He is notified of his nomination by a Committee appointed
by the Convention 65

Speech of the President of the Convention — Reply of Mr.
Lincoln — Correspondence between the Convention and
Mr. Lincoln 66

Is elected President of the United States 67

ITe leaves Springfield for "Washington — Ovations on the
route 69

His arrival at Toledo and Indianapolis — His speeches at
each place.. 69

ITe arrives at Cincinnati, and addresses the citizens from
the Burnet House 70

His arrival at Columbus, with his speech 71

His arrival at Steubenville, and his address to the people —
Arrives in Pittsburg, and makes a speech to the citi-
zens 72

Proceeds to Cleveland, and from thence to Buffalo, with his
speeches at each place 74

Goes next to Albany — His arrival there, and speeches a>
the Capitol and to the members of the Legislature 76

Proceeds to New York, and on his way makes a speech at
Poughkeepsie — Arrival in New York, with his speech,
on being welcomed by the Mayor of the city to that
place 78

Goes next to Trenton — His speeches to the Senate and
to the Chambers of the Assembly of the State of New
Jersey 79

Proceeds to Philadelphia — Is welcomed by the Mayor of
that, city — Mr. Lincoln's speech in reply 81

He visits " Old Independence Hall" — His speech there 82

He raises the National Flag of the country to the top of the
flag-staff on " Old Independence Hall," on Washington's

Birth-day 83

He leaves for Harrisburg — His arrival there — Is welcomed
by both Houses of the Legislature, and his speech ou

that occasion 84

A plot is made to assassinate him — How it was thwarted.... 85
Returns to Philadelphia in a special train, and proceeds to
Washington in disguise — His arrival there — Is welcomed
4o Washington by the authorities — His speech in reply 86
Addresses the Republican Association 87

J!e is inaugurated President of the United States — Inaugu-
ral Address of Abraham Lincoln 88

President Lincolu's interview with the Virginia Commis-
sioners, with hi3 Address to them on that occasion 93

CONTENTS. 19

PAGB

The first Proclamation for troops — Congress summoned to
assemble on the Fourth of July 97

A blockade of Southern ports ordered 98

The President's communication with the Maryland au-
thorities 99

Blockading of Virginia and North Carolina 101

A call for additional troops 102

Has an interview with the Maryland Legislature 103

A special order for Florida — President Lincoln's first Mes-
sage to Congress 104

A day of Fasting and Prayer appointed 117

Commercial intercourse with the Rebellious States pro-
hibited 118

He modifies an order of General Fremont's — His second
Message to Congress 119

The President's Message recommending Gradual Emancipa-
tion 120

He assumes active command of the Army and Navy of the
United States 122

He orders Thanksgiving for signal victories— Slavery abol-
ished in the District of Columbia 123

Re-opening of some of the Southern Ports — Repudiates an
emancipation order of Major-General Hunter 124

The President's conference with the Loyal Governors — His
interview with the Border Congressmen — He reads to
them a powerful Appeal 125

Instructions to Military and Naval Commanders 128

A draft for Three Hundred Thousand Men ordered — The

President speaks at a war meeting in Washington 129

The Emancipation Proclamation of September 22d, 1862... 131

The Emancipation Proclamation of January 1st, 1863.... 133

Suspension of the Writ of Habeas Corpus 135

lie issues an Order for the observance of the Sabbath 136

His Annual Message of December, 1862 — Important recom-
mendations to Congress 137

Receives a Complimentary Address from Manchester, Eng-
land 138

The President visits the Army of the Pptomac — Reviews
the troops, etc 140

The Enrolment Act and the rights of Aliens 142

A National Thanksgiving ordered 143

Letter from the President on the Emancipation Proclama-
tion to the Union men of Illinois 145

20 CONTENTS.

PAOl

Suspension of the Writ of Habeas Corpus in certain cases 148

A Proclamation for a National Thanksgiving 149

Three H undred Thousand more men called for 151

The President's Dedicatory Address at the Consecration of

the National Cemetery at Gettysburg 152

He issues another Thanksgiving Proclamation — His Annual
Message of December, 1863 — Full pardon offered to the
Rebels 153

Issues a Proclamation for Seven Hundred Thousand more
men 156

Explanatory Proclamation of one issued December eighth,
1863 157

An Impartial Review of the President's Policy 158

Address of President Lincoln at a fair held at the Patent
Office at Washington, on March 18th, 1864 174

His Address to the Committee of the Workingman's Demo-
cratic Republican Association of New York, on March
21st, 1864 175

He is the choice of the Legislatures of Fifteen States, and

of the American People for another term 177

Resolutions of the Unign League of Philadelphia 17f)

General Grant made a Lieutenant-General 181

A vigorous Prosecution of the War 181

Mr. Lincoln Re-nominated for the Presidency 182

President Lincoln visits Philadelphia 185

Washington Threatened 186

" To whom it may Concern" 186

The Fall of Atlanta. Mr. Lincoln is Re-elected 187

Mr. Lincoln makes a Speech. His last Annual Message. . 188

More Troops wanted 189

Mr. Lincoln has an Interview with Rebel Commissioners. 189
Mr. Lincoln is inaugurated President of the United

States for a second term 191

Mr. Lincoln's Inaugural Address of March 4th, 1865 192

President Lincoln goes to " the Front" 193

Gen. Lee Surrenders. President returns to Washington. l'J4

Mr. Lincoln's Last Speech 195

President Lincoln Assassinated .... 198

What became of Booth 200

The Fourteenth of April, 1865 201

The effect of Mr. Lincoln's Death 203

A Summary 204

LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES

OF

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

HIS BIRTH AND ANCESTORS.
Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth President of ths
United States, and the skilful ruler under whose wise ad-
ministration the country in its hour of peril has been en-
abled to combat successfully with the traitors who have
attempted its destruction, was born on the twelfth of
February, 1809, in that part of Hardin county, Kentucky,
which is now known as Larue. His father, Thomas Lin-
coln, and his grandfather, Abraham, were born in Rock-
ingham county, Virginia, a section of the "Old Dominion"
to which their ancestors had migrated from Berks county,
Pennsylvania. In the year 1780, the grandfather removed
his family to Kentucky, where, taking possession of a
email tract of land in the wilderness, he erected a rude
cabin, and proceeded to make his new home comfortable-
and productive. His daily labors were attended in their
prosecution with great personal danger. There was no
other resident within two or three miles, and the country
was infested with Indians, who allowed no opportunity to
pass to slaughter the white settlers. His gun was carried

21

22 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

as regularly to his work as was his axe or any other im-
plement necessary to the successful clearing of the land,
and at night when he retired to the bosom of his little
flock, the faithful weapon was placed in a convenient cor
ner, where it could be quickly grasped in the event of an
attack from the wily enemy.

Individuals and whole families living in the vicinity
were murdered bv the Indians, but Abraham Lincoln for
four years escaped their bloodthirsty characteristics ; but
at the end of that period, while clearing a piece of land
about four miles from home, he was suddenly attacked,
and killed, and his scalped remains were found the next
morning. The loss was a severe one to the widow, who
now found herself alone iu the wilderness with her three
sons and two daughters, and with but little money with
which to provide even the necessities of life for the young
members of her household. Poverty made it necessary
that the family should separate ; and all the children but
Thomas bade adieu to their remaining parent, and left the
county, the second son removing to Indiana, and the others
to other sections of Kentucky.

DESCRIPTION OF HIS PARENTS.
Thomas also left home before he was twelve years old,
but subsequently returned to Kentucky, and in the year
1806, married Miss Xancy Hanks, who was also a native
of Virginia ; so that it will be observed nearly all of the
immediate ancestors of the President were born upon
Southern soil. Thomas Lincoln and his wife were a plain,
unassuming couple, conscientious members of the Baptist
Church, and almost entirely uneducated. Mrs. Lincoln
could read, but not write, while her husband could do
neither, save so far as to scribble his own name in a style
of caligraphy which a few of his more intimate friends
could decipher. He, however, appreciated the advan-

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 23

tages of education, and honored and respected the superior
learning of others. His kindness of heart was proverbial,
and he was always industrious and persevering. His
wife, although uneducated, was blessed with much natural
talent, excellent judgment, and good sense, and these
qualifications, with her great piety, made her a suitable
partner for a man of Thomas Lincoln's attributes, and a
mother whose precepts and teachings could not fail to be
of vast benefit in the formation of her children's characters.
This estimable couple had three children — a daughter, a
son who had died in infancy, and Abraham. The sister
attained the years of womanhood, and married, but subse-
quently died without issue.

ABE" GOES TO SCHOOL.
When Abraham, or "Abe," as he was already called at
home and by his companions, was seven years of age, his
name was entered for the first time on the roll of an edu-
cational institution — an academy which had but little pre-
tension in outward appearance, and the presiding genius
of which had neither ambition nor ability to impart greater
instruction than that which would enable his pupils to
read and write. His term of schooling was, however, to
be of short duration.

THE LINCOLN FAMILY REMOVE TO INDIANA.

Mr. Lincoln, although a Southerner by birth and resi-
dence, had become early imbued with a disgust for slavery.
He witnessed the evils of the " peculiar institution," and
longed to be free from the disagreeable effects of a condi-
tion of society which made a poor white man even more
degraded than the unfortunate negro, whose energies and
labors were controlled by an unprincipled and lazy master.
With these sentiments he naturally desired to change his
place of residence, and early in October, 1816, finding a

24 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

purchaser for his farm, he made arrangements for the
transfer of the property and for his removal. The price
paid by the purchaser was ten barrels of whiskey, of forty
gallons each, valued at two hundred and eighty dollars,
and twenty dollars in money. Mr. Lincoln was a tem-
perate man, and acceded to the terms, not because he
desired the liquor, but because such transactions in real
estate were common, and recognized as perfectly proper.

The homestead was within a mile or two of the Rolling
Fork river, and as soon as the sale was effected, Mr. Lin-
coln, with such slight assistance as little Abe could give
him, hewed out a flat-boat, and launching it, filled it with
his household articles and tools and the barrels of whiskey,
and bidding adieu to his son who stood upon the bank,
pushed off, and was soon floating down the stream on his
way to Indiana, to select a new home. His journey down
the Rolling Fork and into the Ohio river was successfully
accomplished, but soon afterwards his boat was unfortu-
nately upset, and its cargo thrown into the water. Some
men standing on the bank witnessed the accident and
saved the boat and its owner, but all the contents of the
craft were lost except a few carpenter's tools, axes, three
barrels of whiskey and some other articles. He again
started, and proceeded to a well-known ferry on the river,
from whence he was guided into the interior by a resident
of the section of country in which he had landed, and to
whom he had given his boat in payment for his services.
After several days of difficult travelling, much of the time
employed in cutting a road through the forest wide enough
for a team, eighteen miles were accomplished, and Spencer
county, Indiana, was reached. The site for his new home
having been determined upon, Mr. Lincoln left his goods
under the care of a person who lived a few miles distant,
and returning to Kentucky on foot, made preparations to
remove his family. In a few days the party bade farewell

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 25

to their old home and slavery. Mrs. Lincoln and her
daughter riding one horse, Abe another, and the father a
third. After a sevep days' journey through an uninhab-
ited country, their resting-place at night being a blanket
spread upon the ground, they arrived at the spot selected
for their future residence, and no unnecessary delays were
permitted to interfere with the immediate and successful
clearing of a site for a cabin. An axe was placed in
Abe's hands, and with the additional assistance of a neigh-
bor, in two or three days Mr. Lincoln had a neat house of
about eighteen feet square, the logs composing which
being fastened together in the usual manner by notches,
and the cracks between them filled with mud. It had only
one room, but some slabs laid across logs overhead gave
additional accommodations which were obtained by climb-
ing a rough ladder in one corner. A bed, table and four
stools were then made by the two settlers, father and son,
and the building was ready for occupancy. The loft wa3
Abe's bedroom, and there night after night for many
years, he who now occupies the most exalted position in
the gift of the American people, and who dwells in the
" White House" at Washington, surrounded by all the
comforts that wealth and power can give, slumbered with
one coarse blanket for his mattress and another for his
covering. Although busy during the ensuing winter with
his axe, ht did not neglect his reading and spelling, and
also practised frequently with a rifle, the first evidence of
his skill as a marksman being manifested, much to the
delight of his parents, in the killing of a wild turkey,
which had approached too near the cabin. The knowledge
of the use of the rifle was indispensable in the border
settlements at that time, as the greater portion of the food
required for the settlers was procured by it, and the family
which had not among its male members one or more who
could discharge it with accuracy, was very apt to suffer
from a scarcity of comestibles.

/

26 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

DEATH OF MRS. LINCOLN— ■ ABE" LEARNS TO

WRITE.

A little more than a year after removing to Spencer
county, Mrs. Lincoln died, an event which brought deso-
lation to the hearts of her husband and children, but to
none so much as to Abe. He had been a dutiful son, and
she one of the most devoted of mothers, and to her in-
struction may be traced many of those traits and charac-
teristics for which even now he is remarkable. Soon
after her death, the bereaved lad had an offer which prom-
ised to afford him other employment during the long,
monotonous evenings, than the reading of books, a young
man who had removed into the neighborhood having
offered to teach him how to write. The opportunity was
too fraught with benefit to be rejected, and after a few
weeks of practice under the eye of his instructor, and also
out of doors with a piece of chalk or charred stick, he was
able to write his name, and in less than twelve months
could and did write a letter.

HIS FATHER MARRIES AGAIN— ABE FINISHES
HIS EDUCATION.

During the next year Mr. Lincoln married Mrs. Sally
Johnston, of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, a widow-lad v with
three children, and who was admirably adapted to supply
the vacancy which existed in the Lincoln family; and a
superior woman, between whom and Abe a most devoted
attachment sprung up, which ever afterwards continued.
About the same time a person named Crawford moved into
the neighborhood, and understanding how to read and
write and the rudiments of arithmetic, was induced to
open a school, to which Abe was sent, and in which he
greatly improved his knowledge of the first two branches,
and soon mastered the second. His school-garb comprised

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 27

a suit of dressed buckskin and a cap made from a raccoon
skin. His memory was retentive, and as he took an un-
usual pride in his studies, his close application made him
a favorite scholar with his teacher, while his superior
knowledge, limited though it was, caused him to be used
by the more ignorant settlers as their scribe whenever they
had letters to be written. A brief period at this school,
and to use a fashionable phrase, his education was finished.
Six months of instruction within the walls of an insigni-
ficant school- house is all the education that Abraham Lin-
coln has received during a long lifetime, a greater portion
of which has been spent in public positions, where ability
and talent were indispensable requisites.

BECOMES A HIRED HAND ON A FLATBOAT.

For four or five years after leaving school, or until he
was eighteen, he constantly labored in the woods with his
axe, cutting down trees and splitting rails, and during
the evenings, read such works as he could borrow from
the other settlers. A year later, he was hired by a man
living near by, at ten dollars a month, to go to New
Orleans on a flatboat loaded with stores, which were
destined for sale at the plantations on the Mississippi
river, near the Crescent City, and with but one companion
started on his rather dangerous journey. At night they
tied up alongside of the bank, and rested upon the hard
deck with a blanket for a covering, and during the hours
of light, whether their lonely trip was cheered by a bright
sun or made disagreeable in the extreme by violent storms,
their craft floated down the stream, its helmsmen never for a
moment losing their spirits, or regretting their acceptance
of the positions they occupied. Nothing occurred to mar
the success of the trip, nor the excitement naturally inci-
dent to a flatboat expedition of some eighteen hundred
miles, save a midnight attack bv a party of negroes, who,

28 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

after a severe conflict, were whipped by Abe and his
comrade and compelled to flee, and after selling their
goods at a Landsome profit, the young merchants returned
to Indiana.

THE FAMILY EEMOVE TO ILLINOIS— ABE
SEEKS HIS FORTUNE AMONG STRANGERS.

In March, 1830, Mr. Thomas Lincoln removed his
family to Illinois, their household articles being transported
thither in large wagons drawn by oxen, Abe himself
driving one of the teams. Upon the journey, and while
crossing the bottom lands of the Kaskaskia river, the
males of the family were compelled to wade through
water up to their waists. In two weeks they reached
Decatur, Macon county, Illinois, near the centre of that
State, and in another day were at the tract of land
(ten acres) on the north side of the Sangamon river, and
about ten miles west of Decatur. A log cabin was imme-
diately erected, and Abe proceeded to split the rails for
the fence with which the lot was to be enclosed. As a
rail-splitter, as a tiller of the soil, or as a huntsman, to
whose accuracy of aim the family depended in a great
measure for their daily food, young Abraham Lincoln
was active, earnest and laborious, and when in the follow-
ing spring he signified his intention to leave his home to
seek his fortune among strangers, the tidings were re-
ceived by his parents and friends with the most profound
sorrow.

Confident that a more extended field of observation and
action would be more suitable to his tastes and disposition,
he packed up what little clothing he possessed, and went
westward into Menard county. He worked on a farm
in the vicinity of Petersburg, during the ensuing summer
and winter, at the same time improving himself, in read-
ing, writing, grammar, and arithmetic.

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 29

HE TAKES ANOTHER TRIP TO NEW ORLEANS-
BECOMES MILLER AND SALESMAN.

Early in the following spring he was hired by a man
named Offutt, to assist in taking a flatboat to New
Orleans ; and, as it was found impossible to purchase a
suitable boat, Abe lent a willing and industrious hand in
building one at Sangamon, from whence, when completed,
it was floated into the Mississippi river. The trip was
made, and his employer was so much gratified with the
industry and tact of his hired hand, that he engaged him
to take charge of his mill and store in the village of New
Salem. In this position, " Honest Abe," as he was now
called, won the respect and confidence of all with whom
he had business dealings, while socially, he was much
beloved by the residents — young and old — of the place.
He was affable, generous, ever ready to assist the needy
or to sympathize with the distressed, and never was
known to be guilty of a dishonorable act.

HIS SERVICES IN THE BLACK HAWK WAR.

Early in the following year the Black Hawk War broke
out, and the Governor of Illinois calling for troops, Abe
determined to offer his services ; and a recruiting station
being opened in New Salem, he placed his name the first
on the roll ; and by his influence inducing many of his
friends and companions to do likewise, a company was
soon organized, and Abe was unanimously elected captain.
The company marched to Beardstown, and from there to
the seat of war ; but during their term of enlistment —
thirty days — were not called into active service. A new
levy was then called for, and he re-enlisted as a private,
and at the end of thirty days again re-enlisted, and re-
mained with his regiment until the war ended.

30 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

IS NOMINATED FOR THE LEGISLATURE AND
IS DEFEATED.

Soon after his return from this campaign, in the pro-
gress of which he proved himself an efficient and zealous
soldier, although his regiment was not brought in conflict
with the enemy, or as he subsequently expressed it, he
" did not see any live fighting Indians, but had a good
many bloody struggles with the mosquitoes," he was
waited upon by several of the influential citizens of New
Salem, who asked his consent to nominate him for the
legislature. He had only been a resident of the county for
nine months, but as a thorough-going "Henry Clay man"
tfas needed, he was deemed the most suitable person to run,
particularly as it was believed that his popularity would
ensure success in a county which had, the year before,
given General Jackson a large majority for President.
There were eight aspirants for the legislative position;
but, although Abraham received two hundred and seventy-
seven votes out of two hundred and eighty-four, cast in
New Salem, he was not elected, the successful candidate
leading him a few votes.

BECOMES A MERCHANT AND SURVEYOR.

Soon after his political defeat he engaged in the mer-
cantile business, but in a few months sold out, and under
the tuition of John Calhoun (in later years President of
the Lecompton Constitutional Convention) became pro-
ficient in surveying, an occupation which for more than a
year he found very remunerative for a novice. He was
also for a time Postmaster of New Salem.

IS ELECTED TO THE LEGISLATURE— STUDIES

LAW

In August, 1834, he was again nominated for the Legis-
lature, and was elected by a large majority ; and in 1836,

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 31

1838, and 1840, was re-elected. While attending the pro-
ceedings of the first session, he determined to become a law-
yer, and being placed in possession of the necessary books
through the kindness of the Hon. John T. Stuart, applied
himself to study, and in 1836 was admitted to practice at
the bar. In April, 1831, he removed to Springfield, and
became a partner of Mr. Stuart.

A THRILLING INCIDENT IN HIS LEGAL
CAREER.

One instance which occurred during his early legal
practice is worthy of extended publication. At a camp
meeting held in Menard county, a fight took place which
ended in the murder of one of the participants in the
quarrel. A young man named Armstrong, a son of the
aged couple for whom mauy years before Abraham Lin-
coln had worked, was charged with the deed, and being
arrested and examined, a true bill was found against him,
and he was lodged in jail to await his trial. As soon as
Air. Lincoln received intelligence of the affair, he addressed
a kind letter to Mrs. Armstrong, stating his anxiety that
her son should have a fair trial, and offering in return for
her kindness to him while in adverse circumstances some
years before, his services gratuitously. Investigation con-
vinced the volunteer attorney that the young man was the
victim of a conspiracy, and he determined to postpone the
case until the excitement had subsided. The day of trial
however finally arrived, and the accuser testified positively
that he saw the accused plunge the knife into the heart of
the murdered man. He remembered all the circumstances
perfectly; the murder was committed about half-past nine
o'clock at night, and the moon was shining brightly.
Mr. Lincoln reviewed all the testimony carefully, and
then proved conclusively that the moon which the accuser
had sworn was shining brightly, did not rise until an hour

82 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

or more after the murder was committed. Other dis-
crepancies were exposed, and in thirty minutes after the
jury retired they returned with a verdict of " Not Guilty "

A PROTEST AGAINST SLAVERY.

On the third of March, 1837, a protest was presented
to the House of Representatives of Illinois and signed by
" Daniel Stone and Abraham Lincoln, Representatives
from Sangamon county," which is the first record that we
have of the sentiments of the subject of our sketch on the
slavery question. It was in opposition to a series of reso-
lutions which had been adopted, taking an extreme South-
ern view of slavery, for which Mr. Lincoln refused to vote,
and subsequently handed in the protest.

IS A CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENTIAL
ELECTOR.

In every campaign from 1836 to 1852, he was a Whig
candidate for Presidential Elector, and in 1844, he stumped
the entire State of Illinois for Henry Clay ; and then
crossing the line into Indiana, spoke daily to immense
gatherings, until the day of election. His style of speak-
ing was pleasing to the masses of the people, and his
earnest appeals were not only well received, but were
productive of much benefit to his favorite candidate.
Accustomed from early childhood to the habits and pecu-
liarities of all kinds and conditions of men — the refined
and the vulgar, the intelligent and the illiterate, the rich
and the poor — he knew exactly what particular style of
language best suited his hearers, and the result was that
he was always listened to with a degree of attention and
interest which few political speakers receive.

MR. LINCOLN ELECTED TO CONGRESS — HIS
VOTES AND SPEECHES DURING HIS CON-
GRESSIONAL TERM.

In I84G, Mr. Lincoln was elected to Congress from the

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 33

Central District of Illinois, by a majority of over fifteen
hundred votes, the largest ever given in that District to
any candidate opposed to the Democratic party. Illinois
elected seven Representatives that year; and all were
Democrats but Mr. Lincoln. He took his seat on the
first Monday of December, 1847, and during the exciting
session that followed, cast his vote pro or con on every
important question, and on more than one occasion dis-
played his eloquence and superior argumentative ability.
One of his first votes was given on the twentieth of De-
cember in favor of the following resolution :

"Resolved, That if, in the judgment of Congress, it be neces-
sary to improve the navigation of a river to expedite and render
secure the movements of our army, and save from delay and loss
our arms and munitions of war, that Congress has the power to
improve such river.

"Resolved, That if it bo necessary for the preservation of the
lives of our seamen, repairs, safety, or maintenance of our ves-
sels-of-war, to improve a harbor or inlet, either on our Atlantic
or Luke coast, Congress has the power to make such improve-
ment."

On the twenty-second of the same month, he voted in
favor of a similar resolution, and on the same day offered
the following series of resolutions, which he introduced
with one of his characteristic speeches, humorous at one
moment and logical at the next. Although, like the large
majority of the Whig party opposed to the declaration of
war with Mexico by the President, he never failed to vote
for any resolution or bill which had for its object the send-
ing of supplies to our troops who had been ordered to the
seat of war. The resolutions read as follows :

'■ Whereas, The President of the United States, in his mes-
sage <>f May 11th. 1S4G. has declared ' that the Mexican Govern-
ment not only refused to receive him (the envoy of the United
States) or listen to his propositions, but, after a lon^-continued
series of menaces, have at last invaded our territory and shed
the blood of our fellow. citizens on our own soil.'

"And again, in his message of December 8th, 184G, that 'we

34 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

had ample cause of war against Mexico long before the break-
ing out of hostilities, but even then we forbore to take redress
into our own hands until Mexico herself became the aggressor
by invading our soil in hostile array, and shedding the blood of
our citizens.'

"And yet again, in the message of December 7th. 1847, that
' the Mexican Government refused even to hear the terms of
adjustment which he (our minister of peace) was authorized to
propose; and, finally, under wholly unjustifiable pretexts, in-
volved the two countries in war by invading the territory of the
State of Texas, striking the first blow, and shedding the blood
of our citizens on our own soil.'

" And whereas, This House is desirous to obtain a full knowl-
edge of all the facts which go to establish whether the particu-
lar spot on which the blood of our citizens was so shed, was or
was not at that time our own soil. Therefore,

"Resolved, hy the House of Representatives, That the Presi-
dent of the United States be respectfully requested to inform
this House,

" 1st. Whether the spot on which the blood of our citizens
wras shed, as in his messages declared, was or was not within the
Territory of Spain, at least after the treaty of 1819, until the
Mexican revolution.

"2/2(7. Whether that spot is or is not within the territory
which was wrested from Spain by the revolutionary Govern-
ment of Mexico.

" 3rd. Whether that spot is or is not within a settlement of
people, which settlement has existed ever since long before the
Texas revolution, and until its inhabitants fled before the ap-
proach of the United States Army.

"■1th. Whether that settlement is or is not isolated from any
and all other settlements by the Gulf and the Rio Grande on
the south and west, aud by wide uninhabited regions on the north
and east.

"5th. Whether the people of that settlement, or a majority
of them, or any of them, have ever submitted themselves to the
Government or laws of Texas or of the United States, by con-
sent or by compulsion, either by accepting office, or voting at
elections, or paying tax or serving on juries, or having process
served upon them, or in any other way.

•' 6th. Whether the people of that settlement did or did not
floe from the approach of the United States Army, leaving un-
protected their homes and their growing crops, before the blood
was shed, as in the message stated ; and whether the first bloo I,
so shed, was or was not shed within the enclosure of one of t) e
people who had thus fled from it.

" 1th. Whether our citizens, whose blood was shed, as in his
messages declared, were or were not, at that time, armed officers

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 35

and soldiers, sent into that settlement by the military order of
the President, through the Secretary of "War.

" 8th. Whether the military force of the United States was or
was not so sent into that settlement after General Taylor had
more than once intimated to the War Department that, in his
opinion, no such movement was necessary to the defence or pro-
tection of Texas."

On several occasions during the session, he voted for
the reception of petitions and memorials in favor of the
abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, against
the slave-trade, and advocating the prohibition of slavery*
in the territory that might be acquired from Mexico.

On the seventeenth of February, 1848, Mr. Lincoln
voted for a Loan bill reported by the Committee of Ways
and Means, authorizing the raising of sixteen millions of
dollars to enable the Government to provide for its debts,
principally incurred in Mexico.

On the eleventh of May, in moving to reconsider a vote
by which a bill having reference to the public lands had
passed, he made the following remarks :

" He stated to the House that he had made this motion for
the purpose of obtaining an opportunity to say a few words
in relation to a point raised in the course of the debate on
this bill, which he would now proceed to make, if in order.
The point in the case to which he referred, arose on the amend-
ment that was submitted by the gentleman from Vermont (Mr.
Collamer), in Committee of the Whole on^the State of the Union,
and which was afterwards renewed in the House, in relation to
the question whether the reserved sections, which, by some bills
heretofore passed, by which an appropriation of land had been
made to Wisconsin, had been enhanced in value, should be re-
duced to the minimum price of the public lands. The question
of the reduction in value of those sectious was, to him, at this
time, a matter very nearly of indifference. He was inclined to
desire that Wisconsin should be obliged by having it reduced.
But the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. C. B. Smith), the Chair-
man of the Committee on the Territories, associated that ques-
tion with the general question, which is now, to some extent,
imitated in Congress, of making appropriations of alternate sec
lions of land to aid the States in making internal improvep^D*-?
aud enhancing the prices of the section reserved, and *-b* r*b

36 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

tleman from Indiana took ground against that policy. He did
not make any special argument in favor of Wisconsin ; but he
took ground generally against the policy of giving alternate sec-
tions of land, and enhancing the price of the reserved sections.
Now, he (Mr. L.) did not at this time, take the floor for the
purpose of attempting to make an argument on the general sub-
ject. He rose simply to protest against the doctrine which the
gentleman from Indiana had avowed in the course of what he
(Mr. L.) could not but consider an unsound argument.

" It might however be true, for any thing he knew, that the
gentleman from Indiana might convince him that his argument
was sound ; but he (Mr. L.) feared that gentleman would not be
able to convince a majority in Congress that it was sound. It
was true, the question appeared in a different aspect to persons
in consequence of a difference in the point from which they
looked at it. It did not look to persons residing east of the
mountains as it did to those who lived among the public lands.
But, for his part, he would state that if Congress would make a
donation of alternate sections of public lands for the purpose
of internal improvement in his State, and forbid the reserved
sections being sold at 81.25, he should be glad to see the appro-
priation made, though he should prefer it if the reserved sec-
tions were not enhanced in price. He repeated, he should be
glad to have such appropriations made, even though the reserved
sections should be enhanced in price. He did not wish to be
understood as concurring in any iutimation that they would re-
fuse to receive such an appropriation of alternate sections of
land because a condition enhancing the price of the reserved
sections should be attached thereto. He believed his position
would now be understood, if not, he feared he should not be able
to make himself understood.

" But before he took his seat he would remark that the Senate,
during the present session, had passed a bill making appropria-
tions of land on that principle for the benefit of the State in
which he resided — the State of Illinois. The alternate sections
wrere to be given for the purpose of constructing roads, and the
reserved sections were to be enhanced in ralue in consequence.
When the bill came here for the action of this House, it had
been received, aud was now before the Committee on Public
Lands — he desired much to see it passed as it was, if it could
be put in a more favorable form for the State of Illinois. When
it should be before this House, if any member from a section of
the Union in which these lands did not lie, whose interest might
be less than that which he felt, should propose a reduction of
the price of the reserved sections to $1.25, he should be much
obliged ; but he did not think it would be well for those who
came from the section of the Union in which the lands lay, to
do so. He wished it, then, to be understood, that he did uot
join iu the warfare against the principle which had engaged the

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 37

minds of some members of Congress who were favorable to im-
provements in the western country.

" There was a good deal of force, he admitted, in what fell
from the Chairman of the Committee on Territories. It might
be that there was no precise justice in raising the price of the
reserved sections to $2.50 per acre. It might be proper that
the price should be enhanced to some extent, though not to
double the usual price ; but he should be glad to have such an
appropriation with the reserved sections at £2.50; he should be
better pleased to have the price of those sections at something
less ; and be should be still better pleased to have them without
any enhancement at all.

" There was one portion of the argument of the gentlemaa
from Indiana, the Chairman of the Committee on Territories
(Mr. Smith), which he wished to take occasion to say that he
did not view as unsound. He alluded to the statement that the
General Government was interested in these internal improve-
ments being made, inasmuch as they increased the value of the
lands that were unsold, and they enabled the Government to sell
Lauds which could not be sold without them. Thus, then, the
Government gained by internal improvements, as well as by the
general good which the people derived from them, and it might
be, therefore, that the lands should not be sold for more than
$1.50, instead of the price being doubled. He, however, merely
mentioned this in passiug, for he only rose to state, as the prin-
ciple of giving these lands for the purposes which ho had men-
tioned had been laid hold of aud considered favorably, and as
there were some gentlemen who had constitutional scruples
about giving money for these purposes, who would not hesitate
to give land, that he was uot willing to have it understood that
he was one of those who made war against that principle. This
was all he desired to say, and having accomplished the object
with which he rose, he withdrew his motion to reconsider."

On the nineteenth of the following month he first had
an opportunity to record his views upon the Tariff ques-
tion, by voting in favor of a resolution instructing the
Committee of Ways and Means to inquire into the expe-
diency of reporting a bill increasing the duties on foreign
luxuries of all kinds, and on "such foreign manufactures
as are now coming into ruinous competition with Ameri-
can labor." He subsequently voted for a resolution in-
structing the Committee of Ways and Means to inquire
into the expediency of reporting a Tariff bill based upon
the principles of the Tariff of 1842.

38 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

On the 28th of July, 1848, the celebrated bill estab-
lishing Territorial governments for Oregon, California and
New Mexico, the peculiar feature of which was a provi-
sion prohibiting the Legislatures of California and Xew
Mexico from passing laws in favor of or against slavery,
and providing that the laws of the Legislatures should bo
subject to the sanction of Congress, was argued, and after
an exciting debate, laid on the table, Mr. Lincoln voting
with Mr. Webster, Mr. Corwin, and other illustrious col-
leagues for this disposition of the bill.

On the sixteenth of January, 1849. Mr. Lincoln offered
the following substitute for a resolution which he had
voted against, not being satisfied with all its provisions :

" Resolved, That the Committee on the District of Columbia
oe instructed to report a bill in substance, as follows :

" Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Represen-
tatives of the United States in Congress assembled, That no per-
son not now within the District of Columbia, nor now owned by
any person or persons now resident within it, nor hereafter born
within it. shall ever be held in slavery within said District.

Sec. 2. That no person now within said District, or now owned
bv any person or persons now resident within the same, or here-
after *b"rn within it, shall ever be held in slavery without the
limits of said District : Provided, That officers of the Govern-
ment of the United States, being citizens of the slaveholding
States, coming into said District on public business, and remain-
ing only so long as may be reasonably necessary for that object,
may be attended into and out of said District, and while there,
by the necessary servants of themselves and their families, with-
out their right to hold such servants in service being impaired.
" Sec. 3. That all children born of slave mothers within said
District, on or after the 1st day of January, in the year of our
Lord 1850, shall be free; but shall be reasonably supported and
educated by the respective owners of their mothers, or by their
heirs or representatives, and shall serve reasonable service as
apprentices to such owners, heirs, or representatives, until they

respectively arrive at the age of years, when they shall

be entirely free : And the municipal authorities of Washington
and Georgetown, within their respective jurisdictional limits,
are hereby empowered and required to make all suitable and
necessary "provision for enforcing obedience to this section, on
the part "of buth masters and apprentices.

" Sec. 4. That all persons now within this District, lawfully

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 39

held as slaves, or now owned by any person or persons now resi-
dent within said District, shall remain such at the will of their
respective owners, their heirs or legal representatives : Pro-
vided that such owner, or his legal representatives, may at any
1 ime receive from the Treasury of the United States the full
value of his or her slave, of the class in this section mentioned,
upon which such slave shall be forthwith and forever free : And
provided further, That the President of the United States, the
Secret ary of State, and the Secretary of the Treasury, shall be
a board for determining the value of such slave-s as their owners
desire to emancipate under this section, and whose duty it sh;ill
be to hold a session for the purpose on the first Monday of each
calendar month, to i-eceive all applications, and, on satisfactory
evidente in each case that the person presented for valuation
is a slave, and of the class in the section mentioned, and is
owned by the applicant, shall value such slave at his or her full
cash value, and give to the applicant an order on the Treasury
for the amount, and also to such slave a certificate of freedom.

"Sec. 5. That the municipal authorities of Washington and
Georgetown, within their respective jurisdictional limits, are
hereby empowered and required to provide active and efficient
means to arrest and deliver up to their owners all fugitive slaves
tsc. i ping into said District.

'• Sec. 6. That the elective officers within said District of Col-
umbia are hereby empowered and requiied to open polls at all
the usual places of holding elections, on the first Monday of
April next, and receive the vote of every free white male citi-
zen above the age of twenly-one years, having resided within
said District for the period of one year or more next preceding
tin' time of such voting for or against this act, to proceed iu
taking said votes in all respects not herein specified, as at elec-
tions under the municipal laws, and with as little delay as pos-
sible to transmit correct statements of the votes so cast to the
President of the United States ; and it shall be the duty of the
President to count such votes immediately, and if a majority
of them be found to be for this act, to forthwith issue his pro-
clamation giving notice of the fact; and this act shall only be
in full force and effect on and after the day of such procla-
mation.

'"•'Sec. 7. That involuntary servitude for the punishment of
crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall
in nowise be prohibited by this act.

" Sec. 8. That for all purposes of this act, the jurisdictional
limits of Washington are extended to all parts of the District
of Columbia not included within the present limits of George-
town."

We have given a sufficient record of Mr. Lincoln's ser
?ices as a Representative in Congress, to show that in hia

40 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

numerous votes and remarks upon the slavery question,
be was uniformly consistent, and a determined opponent
to that peculiar institution which, Mr. Corwin truly re-
marked, was an exotic that blights with its shade the soil
in which it is planted. He with almost equal determina-
tion opposed the annexation of Texas, and voted mora
than forty different times in favor of Ihe Wilmot Proviso.

BECOMES A DELEGATE TO THE NATIONAL
CONVENTION OF 1348.

In the Whig National Convention of 1848, he was an
active delegate, and earnestly advocated the selection of
General Zachary Taylor as the nominee for the Presiden-
cy, and during the canvass which followed, be traversed
the States of Indiana and Illinois, speaking in behalf of
his favorite candidate and the choice of his party.

HE IS NOMINATED FOR UNITED STATES
SENATOR, BUT WITHDRAWS.

In 1849 he was a candidate before the Legislature of
Illinois for United States Senator, but his political oppo-
nents being in the majority, General Shields was chosen.
From that time until 1854, he confined himself almost
exclusively to the practice of his profession, but in that
year he again entered the political arena, and battled inde-
fatigably in the celebrated campaign which resulted in
victory for the first time to the opposition of the Demo-
cratic party in Illinois, and gave that State a Republican
Legislature, and sent Mr. Trumbull to the United States
Senate. During the canvass, Mr. Lincoln was frequently
brought into controversy upon the stand with Stephen A.
Douglas, one of the discussions, that was held on the fourth
of October, 1854, during the progress of the annual State
Fair, being particularly remarkable as the great discussion
of the campaign.

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 41

At the election of United States Senator, nine-tenths of
the majority were Whigs and in favor of Mr. Lincoln, and
the other tenth were Democrats, but not in favor of voting
for a Whig, and for the purpose of securing the success of
a man whom he knew was opposed to the Nebraska bill,
and thus preventing the election of a third person who had
little or nothing in common with the Republican party,
which was then in its conception, he entreated his friends
to vote for Mr. Trumbull. Mr. Lincoln was subsequently
offered the nomination for Governor of Illinois, but de-
clined the honor in favor of Mr. Bissell ; was also pre-
sented, but ineffectually, at the first Republican National
Convention for Vice-President ; and at the next Presi-
dential election headed the Fremont electoral ticket, and
labored industriously in support of that candidate.

AGAIN NOMINATED FOR THE SENATE— HIS
SPEECHES IN THE CELEBRATED LINCOLN-
DOUGLAS CAMPAIGN.

On the second of June, 1858, the Republican State
Convention met at Springfield, and nominated Mr. Lin-
coln as their candidate for the United States Senate. At
the close of their proceedings the honored recipient of their
suffrage delivered a speech, which was a forcible exposi-
tion of the views and aims of the party of which he wa3
to be the standard-bearer.

The contest which followed was one of the most ex-
citing and remarkable ever witnessed in this country. Mr
Stephen A. Douglas, his opponent, had few superiors as
a political debater, and while he had made many enemies
by his course upon the Nebraska bill, his personal popu-
larity had been greatly increased by his independence, and
by the opposition manifested to him by the Administra-
tion. His re-election, however, to the Senate would
have been equivalent to an indorsement of his acts and

42 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLX.

views by his Commonwealth, and at the same time
would hare promoted his prospects for the Presidential
nomination. The Republicans, therefore, determined
to defeat him if possible, and to increase the probabilities
of success in the movement, selected Mr. Lincoln as the
man who was most certain of securing the election. Illi-
nois was stumped throughout its length aud breadth by
both candidates and their respective advocates, and the
people of the entire country watched with interest the
struggle. From county to county, township to township,
and village to village, the two leaders travelled, frequently
in the same car or carriage, and in the presence of
immense crowds of men, women and children — for the
wives and daughters of the hardy yeomanry were na-
turally interested — face to face, these two opposing cham-
pions argued the important points of their political belief,
and contended nobly for the mastery.

During the campaign, Mr. Lincoln paid the following
tribute to the Declaration of Independence

"These communities, (the thirteen colonies.) by their repre-
sentatives in old Independence Hall, said to the world of
men, ' We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are
born equal ; that they are endowed by their Creator with in-
alienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pur-
suit of happiness.' This was their majestic interpretation of the
economy of the universe. This was their lofty, and wise, and
noble understanding of the justice of the Creator to His crea-
tures. Yes, gentlemen, to all His creatures, to the whole great
family of man. In their enlightened belief, nothing stamped
with the Divine image and likeness was sent into the world to
be trodden on, and degraded, and imbruted by its fellows. They
grasped not only the race of men then living, but they reached
forward and seized upon the furthest posterity. They created
a beacon to guide their children and their children's children,
a. id the countless myriads who should inhabit the earth in other
ages. Wise statesmen as they were, they knew the teudency of
prosperity to breed tyrants, and so they established these great
self-evident truths that when, in the distant future, some man,
some faction, some interest, should set up the doctrine that none
but rich men, or none but white men, or none but Anglo-Saxon

LIFE AND SEBVTCES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 4 »

white men, were entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of hap-
piness, their posterity might look up again to the Declaration
of Independence, and take courage to renew the battle which
their fathers began, so that truth, and justice and mercy, and
all the humane and Christian virtues might not be extinguished
from the land ; so that no man would hereafter dare to limit
and circumscribe the great principles on which the temple of
liberty was being built.

" Now, my countrymen, if you have been taught doctrines
conflicting with the great landmarks of the Declaration of Inde-
pendence ; if you have listened to suggestions which would take
away from its grandeur, and mutilate the fair symmetry of its
proportions ; if you have been inclined to believe that all men
are not created equal in those inalienable rights enumerated by
our chart of liberty, let me entreat you to come back — return to
the fountain whose waters spring close by the blood of the Re-
volution. Think nothing of me. take no thought for the politi-
cal fate of any man whomsoever, but come back to the truths
that are in the Declaration of Independence.

"You may do any thing with me you choose, if you will but
heed these sacred principles. You may not only defeat me for
the Senate, but you may take me and put me to death. While
pretending no indifference to earthly honors. I do claim to be
actuated in this contest by something higher than an anxiety
for office. I charge you to drop every paltry and insignificant
thought for any man's success. It is nothing ; I am nothing ;
Judge Douglas is nothing. But do not destroy that immortal
emblem of humanity — the Declaration of American- Independ-
ence."

PEN-PORTRAITS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

As we have stated, the exciting struggle was watched
with intense interest, not only by the members of the
respective political parties of which the two orators were
recognized leaders and champions, but by that portion of
the different communities of the Union who do not gen-
erally trouble their minds with political contests. Copious
extracts from the speeches of both Mr. Lincoln and Mr.
Douglas were published in the journals of the day, and
criticisms of the orators and their discussions appeared in
the leading magazines and newspapers.

From some of the latter we select the following, for the
purpose of showing in what estimation the talents and

44 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

ability of the honorable subject of our sketch were held
at the time of which we now more particularly speak, and
to give those readers of this work who have not had the
opportunity to see Mr. Lincoln, an idea of his personal
appearance :

One writer gives the following pen-portrait:

" Mr. Lincoln stands six feet and four inches high in his
stockings. His frame is not muscular, but gaunt and wiry;
his arms are long, but not unreasonably so for a person of
his height; his lower limbs are not disproportioned to bis body.
In walking, his gait, though firm, is never brisk. He steps
slowly and deliberately, almost always with his bead inclined
forward, and his hands clasped behind his back. In matters of
dress he is by no means precise. Always clean, he is never
fashionable ; he is careless, but not slovenly. In manner he is
remarkably cordial, and, at the same time, simple. His polite-
ness is always sincere, but never elaborate and oppressive. A
warm shake of the hand, and a warmer smile of recognition, are
his methods of greeting his friends. At rest, his features, though
those of a man of mark, are not such as belong to a handsome
man ; but when his fine dark gray eyes are lighted up by any
emotion, and his features begin their play, he would be chosen
from among a crowd as one who had in him not only the kindly
sentiments which women love, but the heavier metal of which
full-grown men and Presidents are made. His hair is black, and
though thin is wiry. His head sits well on his shoulders, but
beyond that it defies description. It nearer resembles that of
Clay than that of Webster ; but it is unlike either. It is very
large, and, phrenologically, well proportioned, betokening power
in all its developments. A slightly Roman nose, a wide-cut
mouth, and a dark complexion, with the appearance of having
been weather-beaten, complete the description.

" In his personal habits, Mr. Lincoln is as simple as a child.
He loves a good dinner, and eats with the appetite which goes
with a great brain ; but his food is plain and nutritious. He
never drinks intoxicating liquors of any sort, not even a glass
of wine. He is not addicted to tobacco in any of its shapes.
He never was accused of a licentious act in all his life. He
never uses profane language.

"A friend says that once, when in a towering rage, in conse-
quence of the efforts of certain parties to perpetrate a fraud on
the State, he was heard to say: 'They sha'n't do it, d — n 'em!'
but beyond an expression of that kind, his bitterest feelings
never carry him. He never gambles; we doubt if he ever in-
dulges in any games of chance. He is particularly cautious

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. i5

about incurring pecuniary obligations for any purpose whatever,
and in debt, he is never content until the score is discharged.
We presume he owes no man a dollar. He never speculates.
The rage for the sudden acquisition of wealth never took hold
of him. His gains from his profession have been moderate, but
sufficient for his purposes. While others have dreamed of gold,
he has been in pursuit of knowledge. In all his dealings he has
the reputation of being generous but exact, and, above all, re-
ligiously honest. He would be a bold man who would say that
Abraham Lincoln ever wronged any one out of a cent, or ever
spent a dollar that he had not honestly earned. His struggles
in early life have made him careful of money; but his generosity
with his own is proverbial. He is a regular attendant upon re-
ligious worship, and though not a communicant, is a pew-holder
and liberal supporter of the Presbyterian Church, in Spring-
field, to which Mrs. Lincoln belongs. He is a scrupulous teller
of the truth — too exact iu his notions to suit the atmosphere of
Washington, as it now is. His enemies may say that he tells
Black Republican lies ; but no man ever charged that, in a pro-
fessional capacity, or as a citizen dealing with his neighbors, he
would depart from the Scriptural command. At home, he lives
like a gentleman of modest means and simple tastes. A good-
6ized house of wood, simply but tastefully furnished, surrounded
by trees and flowers, is his own, and there he lives, at peace with
himself, the idol of his family, and for his honesty, ability, and
patriotism, the admiration of his countrymen."

Another person gives the subjoined sketch of him :

" Tn personal appearance, Mr. Lincoln, or, as he is more
familiarly termed among those who know him best, ' Old Uncle
Abe,' is long, lean, and wiry. In motion he has a great deal of
the elasticity and awkwardness which iudicates the rough train-
ing of hi? early life, and his conversation savors strongly of
Western idioms and pronunciation. His height is six feet four
inches. His complexion is about that of an octoroon ; his face,
without being by any meaus beautiful, is genial-looking, and good
humor seems to lurk in every corner of its innumerable angles.
He has dark hair tinged with gray, a good forehead, small eyes,
a long penetrating nose, with nostrils such as Napoleon always
liked to find in his best generals, because they indicated a long
head and clear thoughts; and a mouth, which, aside from being
of magnificent proportions, is probably the most expressive
feature cf his face.

"As a speaker he is ready, precise, and fluent. His manner
before a popular assembly is as he pleases to make it, being
either superlatively ludicrous, or very impressive. He employs
but little gesticulation, but when he desires to make a point, pro-
duces a shrug of his shoulders, an elevation of his eyebrows, a

46 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN".

depression of his mouth, and a general malformation of counte-
nance so comically awkward that it never fails to 'bring down
the house.' His enunciation is slow and emphatic, and his voice,
though sharp and powerful, at times has a frequent tendency to
dwindle into a shrill and unpleasant sound ; but as before stated,
the peculiar characteristic of his delivery is the remarkable mo-
bility of his features, the frequent contortions of which excite a
merriment his words could not produce."

A third says :

" In perhaps the severest test that could have been applied
to any man's temper — his political contest with Senator Doug-
las in 1858 — Mr. Lincoln not only proved himself an able speaker
and a good tactician, but demonstrated that it is possible to
carry on the fiercest political warfare without once descending
to rude personality and course denunciation. We have it on
the authority of a gentleman who followed Abraham Lincoln
throughout the whole of that campaign, that, in spite of all the
temptations to an opposite course to which he was continuously
exposed, no personalities against his opponent, no vituperation
or coarseness, ever defiled his lips. His kind and genial nature
lifted him above a resort, to any such weapons of political warfare,
and it was the commonly-expressed regret of fiercer natures that
he treated his opponent too courteously and urbauely. Vulgar
personalities and vituperation are the last thing that can be
truthfully charged against Abraham Lincoln. His heart is too
genial, his good sense too strong, and his innate self-respect too
predominant to permit him to indulge in them. His nobility
of nature — and we may use the term advisedly — has been as
manifest throughout his whole career as his temperate habits,
his self-reliance, and his mental and intellectual power."

And a fourth, a distinguished scholar, after listening to
a speech delivered at Galesburgh, thus wrote :

" The men are entirely dissimilar. Mr. Douglas is a thickset,
finely-built, courageous man. and has au air of self-confidence
that does not a little to inspire Y's supporters with hope. Mr.
Lincoln is a tail, lank man, awkward, apparently diffident, and
when not speaking has neither firmness in his countenance nor
fire in his eye.

" Mr. Lincoln has a rich, silvery voice, enunciates with great
distinctness, and has a fine command of language. He com-
menced by a review of the points Mr. Douglas had made. Id
this he showed great tact, and his retorts, though gentlemanly,
were sharp, and reached to the core the subject in dispute.
While he gave but little time to the work of review, we did not
feel that any thing was omitted which deserved attention

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 47

"He then proceeded to defend the Republican party. Here
he charged Mr. Douglas with doing nothing for freedom ; with
disregarding the rights and interests of the colored man : and
for about forty minutes he spoke with a power that we have
seldom heard equalled. There was a grandeur in his thoughts,
a comprehensiveness in his argument?, and a binding force in his
conclusions, which were perfectly irresistible. The vast throng
were silent as death ; every eye was fixed upon the speaker,
and all gave him serious attention. He was the tall man elo-
quent; his countenance glowed with animation, and his eye
glistened with an intelligence that made it lustrous. He was no
longer awkward and ungainly; but graceful, bold, commanding

" Mr. Douglas had been quietly smoking up to this time ; but
here he forgot his cigar and listened with anxious attention.
When he rose to reply he appeared excited, disturbed, and his
second effort seemed to us vastly inferior to his first. Mr. Lin-
coln had given him a great task, and Mr. Douglas had not time
to answer him, even if he had the ability."

MR. LINCOLN DEFEATED BY MR. DOUGLAS.

The election-day at length arrived, and although the
efforts of Mr. Lincoln resulted in an immense increase of
the Republican vote, whatever aspirations he had for per-
sonal success were frustrated. A vote of 126,084 was
cast for the Republican candidates, 121,940 for the Doug-
las Democrats, and 5,091 for the Lecompton candidates,
but Mr. Douglas was elected United States Senator by
the Legislature, in which his supporters had a majority
of eight on joint ballot.

Although defeated in the hope of securing Mr. Lincoln
as their representative in the United States Senate, the
Republicans were not discouraged, and from that time de-
termined that their favorite leader should be rewarded
with even more exalted honors.

IS NAMED TOR THE PRESIDENCY— EVIDENCE
OF HIS SKILL AS A RAIL-SPLITTER.

He was immediately mentioned prominently for the
Presidency, and at a meeting of the Illinois State Repub-
lican Convention, where he was present as a spectator, a

3

48 -LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

veteran Democrat of Macon county brought in and pre-
sented to the Convention two old fence-rails, gayly deco-
rated with flags and ribbons, and upon which the follow-
ing words were inscribed :

ABRAHAM LINCOLN,

THE RAIL CANDIDATE

FOR PRESIDENT IN 1860

Two rails from a lot of 3,000 made in 1830, by

Thos. Hanks and Abe Lincoln — whose

father was the first pioneer

of Macon county.

The event occasioned the most unbounded enthusiasm,
and for several minutes the most deafening applause re-
sounded through the building. Mr. Lincoln was vocifer-
ously called for, and arising from his seat, modestly ac-
knowledged that he had split rails some thirty years pre-
vious in Macon county, and he was informed that those
before him were a small portion of the product of his
labor with the axe.

The fame of the able advocate of Republican principles
induced the members of that party in other States to se-
cure his voice and influence in their behalf, and in *he fall
of 1859 he made several effective speeches in favor of the
cause.

HIS GREAT SPEECH AT THE COOPER INSTI-
TUTE, NEW YORK.

On the twenty-seventh of February, 1860, he made the

following forcible speech at the Cooper Institute, New

York, before an immense audience :

" Mr. President and Fellow-citizens of New York :
The facts with which I shall deal this evening are mainlv old

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 49

and familiar ; nor is there any thing new in the general use I
ehall make of them. If there shall be any novelty, it will be in
the mode of presenting the facts, and the inferences and obser-
vations following that presentation.

"In his speech last autumn, at Columbus, Ohio, as reported
in The New York Times, Senator Douglas said:

" ' Our fathers, when they framed the Government under
which we live, understood this question just as well, and even
better than we do now.'

" I fully indorse this and I adopt it as a text for this discourse
I so adopt it because it furnishes a precise and agreed starting

Eoint for the discussion between Republicans and that wing of
democracy headed by Senator Douglas. It simply leaves the
inquiry : ' "What was the understanding those fathers had of the
questions mentioned ?'

'• What is the frame of Government under which we live?

" The answer must be: 'The Constitution of the United
States.' That Constitution consists of the original, framed in
1787 (and under which the present Government first went into
operation), and twelve subsequently framed amendments, the first
ten of which were framed in 1789.

" Who were our fathers that framed the Constitution ? I sup-
pose the ' thirty-nine' who signed the original instrument may
be fairly called our fathers who framed that part of the present
Government. It is almost exactly true to say they framed it,
and it is altogether true to say they fairly represented the
opinion and sentiment of the whole nation at that time. Their
names being familiar to nearly all, and accessible to quite all,
need not new be repeated.

" I take these ' thirty-nine,' for the present, as being ' our
fathers who framed the Government under which we live.'

" What is the question which according to the text, those
fathers understood just as well, and even better than we do
now ?

"It is this: Does the proper division of local from federal
authority, or any thing in the Constitution, forbid our Federal
Government control as to slavery in our Federal Territories ?

"Upon this, Douglas holds the affirmative, and Republicans
the negative. This affirmative and denial form an issue ; and
this issue — this question — is precisely what the text declares
our fathers understood better than we.

" Let us now inquire whether the ' thirty-nine,' or any of them,
ever acted upon this question ; and if they did, how they acted
upon it — how they expressed that better understanding.

" In 1784 — three years before the Constitution — the United
States then owning the Northwestern Territory, and no other —
the Congress of the Confederation had before them the question
of prohibiting slavery in that Territory; and four of the
1 thirty-nine' who afterward framed the Constitution were iu tb^t

5C LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

Cotf£ 'ess, and voted on that question. Of these, Roger Sher-
maa, Thomas Mifflin, and Hugh "Williamson voted for the pro-
hibits >n — thus showing that, in their understanding, no line
dividiti^ local from federal authority, nor any thing else, prop-
erly forbade the Federal Government to control as to slavery in
federal territory. The other of the four — James McHenry — ■
voted ayjiinst the prohibition, showing that, for some cause, he
thought ii. improper to vote for it.

" lu 11<il, still before the Constitution, but while the Con-
vention was in session framing it, and while the Northwestern
Territory si*il was the only territory owned by the United States
— the samo question of prohibiting slavery in the territory
again came Wore the Congress of the Confederation ; and three
more of the 'thirty-nine' who afterward signed the Constitution,
were in that Congress, and voted on the question. They were
AVilliam Blouut, William Few and Abraham Baldwin ; and
they all voted ior the prohibition — thus showing that, in their
understanding, no line dividing local from federal authority, nor
any thing else, properly forbids the Federal Government to
control as to slawry in federal territory. This time the pro-
hibition became a \uw, being part of what is now well known as
the Ordinance of '8"i.

"The question of federal control of slavery in the territories,
«eems not to have been directly before the Convention which
framed the original Constitution ; and hence it is not recorded
that the ' thirty-nine' or any of them, while engaged on that
instrument, expressed any opinion on that precise question.

" In 1789, by the fir^t Congress which sat under the Con-
stitution, an act was passed to enforce the Ordinance of '87
including the prohibition of slavery in the Northwestern Terri-
tory. The bill for this act was reported by one of the ' thirty-
jiine,' Thomas Fitzsimmons, then a member of the House of
Representatives from Penn3jlvania. It went through all its
stages without a word of opposition, and finally passed both
branches without yeas and nays, which is equivalent to an unani-
mous passage. In this Congress there were sixteen of the
' thirty-nine' fathers who framed the original Constitution.
They were John Langdon, Nicholas Gilman, Win. S. Johnson,
Roger Sherman, Robert Morris, Thos. Fitzsimmons, William
Few, Abraham Baldwin, Rufus King, William Patterson,
George Clymer, Richard Bassett, George Read, Pierce Butler,
Daniel Carrol, James Madison.

" This shows that, in their understanding, no line dividing local
from federal authority, nor any thing in the Constitution,
properly forbade Congress to prohibit slavery in the federal
territory; else both their fidelity to correct principle, and their
©u^h to support the Constitution, would have constrained them
%j oppose the prohibition.

"A\£ *iij, George Washington, another of the ' thirty-nine,

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 51

was then President of the United States, and, as such, approved
and signed the bill, thus completing its validity as a law, and
thus showing- that, in his understanding-, no line dividing local
from federal authority, nor any thing in the Constitution, for-
bade the Federal Government to control as to slavery in federal
territory.

" No great while after the adoption of the original Constitu
tion, North Carolina ceded to the Federal Government the
country now constituting the State of Tennessee ; and a few
years later Georgia ceded that which now constitutes the States
of Mississippi and Alabama. In both deeds of cession it was
made a condition by the ceding States that the Federal Gov-
ernment should not prohibit slavery in the ceded country.
Besides this, slavery was then actually in the ceded country.
Under these circumstances, Congress, on taking charge of these
countries did not absolutely prohibit slavery within them. But
they did interfere with it — take control of it — even there, to a
certain extent. In 1793, Congress organized the Territory of
Mississippi. In the act of organization they prohibited the
bringing of slaves into the Territory, from any place without the
United States, by fine and giving freedom to slaves so brought.
This act passed both branches of Congress without yeas and
nays. In that Congress were three of the ' thirty-nine' who
framed the original Constitution. They were John Langdon,
George Read, and Abraham Baldwin. They all, probably,
voted for it. Certainly they would have placed their opposition
to it upon record, if, in their understanding, any line dividing
local from federal authority, or any thing in the Constitution,
properly forbade the Federal Government to control as to
slavery in federal territory.

" In 1803, the Federal Government purchased the Louisiana
country. Our former territorial acquisitions came from certain
of our own States ; but this Louisiana country was acquired
from a foreign nation. In 1804, Congress gave a territorial
organization to that part of it which now constitutes the State
of Louisiana. New Orleans, lying within that part, was an old
and comparatively large city. There were other considerable
towns and settlements, and slavery was extensively and
thoroughly intermingled with the people. Congress did not, in
the Territorial Act, prohibit Slavery ; but they did interfere
with it — take control of it — in a more marked and extensive
way than they did in the case of Mississippi. The substance
of the provision therein made, in relation to slaves, was :

"First. That no slave should be imported into the territory
from foreign parts.

"Second. That no slave should be carried into it who had
been imported into the United States since the first day of May,
1798.

"Third. That no slave should be carried into it, except by

52 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

the owner, and for his own nse as a settler ; the penalty in all
the cases being a fine upon the violator of the law, and freedom
to the slave.

" This act also was passed without yeas and nays. In the
Congress which passed it, there were two of the 'thirty-nine.'
They were Abraham Baldwin and Jonathan Dayton. As
stated in the case of Mississippi, it is probable they both voted
for it. They would not have allowed it to pass without record-
ing their opposition to it, if, in their understanding, it violated
either the line proper dividing local from Federal authority or
any provision of the Constitution.

" In 1819-20, came and passed the Missouri question. Many
votes were taken, by yeas and nays, in both branches of Con-
gress, upon the various phases of the general question. Two
of the ' thirty-nine' — Rufus King and Charles Pinckney — were
members of that Congress. Mr. King steadily voted for slavery
prohibition and against all compromises, while Mr. Pinckney as
steadily voted against slavery prohibition and against all core-
promises. By this Mr. King showed that, in his understanding,
no line dividing local from Federal authority, nor any thing in
the Constitution, was violated by Congress prohibiting slavery
in federal territory ; while Mr. Pinckney, by his votes, showed
that in his understanding there was some sufficient reason for
opposing such prohibition in that case.

" The cases I have mentioned are the only acts of the ' thirty-
nine,' or of any of them, upon the direct issue, which I have
been able to discover.

"To enumerate the persons who thus acted, as being four in
1784, three in 1787, seventeen in 1789, three in 1798, two in
1804, and two in 1819-20 — there would be thirty-one of them.
But this would be counting John Langdon, Roger Sherman,
William Few, Rufus King, and George Read, each twice, and
Abraham Baldwin four times. The true number of those of the
'thirty-nine' whom I have shown to have acted upon the ques-
tion, which, by the text they understood better than we, is
twenty-three, leaving sixteen not shown to have acted upon it
in any way.

" Here, then, we have twenty-three out of our ' thirty-nine'
fathers who framed the government under which we live, who
have, upon their official responsibility and their corporal oaths,
acted upon the very question which the text affirms they 'un-
derstood just as well, and even better than we do now ;' and
twenty-one of them — a clear majority of the ' thirty-nine' — so
acting upon it as to make them guilty of gross political impro-
priety, and wilful perjury, if, in their understanding, any proper
division between local and Federal authority, or any thing in the
Constitution they had made themselves, and sworn to support,
forbade the Federal government to control as to slavery in the
Federal territories Tius the twenty-one acted ; and, as actions

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 53

speak louder than words, so actions under such responsibility
speak still louder.

"Two of the twenty-three voted against Congressional pro-
hibition of slavery in the Federal territories, in the instances in
which they acted upon the question. But for what reasons they
so voted is not known. They may have done so because they
thought a proper division of local from Federal authority, or some
provision or principle of the Constitution, stood in the way; or
they may, without any such question, have voted against the pro-
hibition, on what appeared to them to be sufficient grounds of ex-
pediency. No one who has sworn to support the Constitution, can
conscientiously vote for what he understands to be an unconsti-
tutional measure, however expedient he may think it; but one
may and ought to vote against a measure which he deems con-
stitutional, if. at the same time, he deems it inexpedient. It,
therefore, would be unsafe to set down even the two who voted
against the prohibition, as having done so because, in their un-
derstanding, any proper division of local from Federal authority,
or any thing in the Constitution, forbade the Federal govern-
ment to control as to slavery in Federal territory.

"The remaining sixteen of the 'thirty-nine,' so far as I have
discovered, have left no record of their understanding upon the
direct question of Federal control of slavery in the Federal ter-
ritories. But there is much reason to believe that their under-
standing upon that question would not have appeared different
from that of their twenty-three compeers, had it been manifested
at all.

" For the purpose of adhering rigidly to the text, I have pur-
posely omitted whatever understanding may have been mani-
fested, by any person, however distinguished, other than the
1 thirty-nine' fathers who framed the original Constitution ; and,
for the same reason, I have also omitted whatever understanding
may have been manifested by any of the 'thirty-nine' even, on
any other phase of the general question of slavery. If we should
look into their acts and declarations on those other phases, as the
foreign slave-trade, and the morality and policy of slavery gen-
erally, it would appear to us that on the direct question of Fed-
eral control of slavery in Federal territories, the sixteen, if they
had acted at all, would probably have acted just as the twenty-
three did. Among that sixteen were several of the most noted
anti-slavery men of those times — as Dr. Franklin, Alexander
Hamilton, and Governeur Morris — while there was not one now
known to have been otherwise, unless it may be John Rutledge,
of South Carolina.

"The sum of the whole is, that of our 'thirty-nine' fathers
who framed the original Constitution, twenty-one — a clear ma-
jority of the whole — certainly understood that no proper division
of local from Federal authority nor any part of the Constitution,
f )rbade the Federal government to control slavery in the Fed-

54 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

eral territories, while all the rest probably had the same under-
standing. Such, unquestionably, was the understanding of our
fathers who framed the original Constitution; and th.6 text
affirms that they understood the question better than we.

"But. so far. I hare been considering the understanding of
the question manifested by the framers of the original Constitu-
tion. In and by the original instrument, a mode was provided
for amending it ; and, as I have already stated, the present
frame of government under which we live consists of that
original, and twelve amendatory articles framed and adopted
since. Those who now insist that Federal control of slavery in
Federal territories violates the Constitution, point us to the
provisions which they suppose it thus violates ; and, as I under-
stand, they all fix upon provisions in these amendatory articles,
and not in the original instrument. The Supreme Court, in the
Dred Scott case, plant themselves upon the fifth amendment,
which provides that ' no person shall be deprived of property
without due process of law ;' while Senator Douglas and his
peculiar adherents plant themselves upon the teuth amendment,
providing that 'the powers not granted by the Constitution are
reserved to the States respectively, and to the people.'

"Now, it so happens that these amendments were framed by
the first Congress which sat under the Constitution — the identi-
cal Congress which passed the act already mentioned, enforcing
the prohibition of slavery in the northwestern territory. Not
only was it the same Congress, but they were the identical, same
individual men who, at the same session, and at the same time
within the session, had under consideration, and in progress
toward maturity, these Constitutional amendments, and this act
prohibiting slavery in all the territory the nation then owned.
The Constitutional amendments were introduced before, and
passed after the act enforcing the Ordinance of '87 ; so that
during the whole pendency of the act to enforce the Ordinance,
the Constitutional amendments were also pending.

" That Congress, consisting in all of seventy-six members, in-
cluding sixteen of the framers of the original Constitution, as
before stated, were pre-eminently our fathers who framed that
part of the government under which we live, which is now
claimed as forbidding the Federal government to control
slavery in the Federal territories.

" Is it not a little presumptuous in any one at this day to
affirm that the two things which that Congress deliberately
framed, and carried to maturity at the same time, are absolutely
inconsistent with each other? And does not such affirmation
become impudently absurd when coupled with the other affirma-
tion, from the same mouth, that those who did the two things
alleged to be inconsistent understood whether they really were
inconsistent better than we — better than he who affirms that
they are inconsistent ?

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 55

" It is surely safe to assume that the 'thirty-nine' framers of
the original Constitution, and the seventy-six members of the
Congress which framed the amendments thereto, taken together,
do certa.nly include those who may be fairly called ' our fathers
who framed the government under which we live.' And so as-
suming, I defy any man to show that any one of them ever, in
his whole life, declared that, in his understanding, any proper
division of local from Federal authority, or any part of the Con-
stitution, forbade the Federal government to control as to
slavery in the Federal territories. I go a step further. I defy
any one to show that any living man in the whole world ever
did, prior to the beginning of the present century (and I might
almost say prior to the beginning of the last half of the present
century), declare that, in his understanding, any proper division
of local from Federal authority, or any part of the Constitution,
forbade the Federal government to control as to slavery in the
Federal territories. To those who now so declare, I give, not
only ' our fathers who framed the government under which we
live,' but with them all other living men within the ceutury in
which it was framed, among whom to search, and they shall not
be able to find the evidence of a single man agreeing with them.

" Xow, and here, let me guard a little against being misun-
derstood. I do not mean to say we are bound to follow im-
plicitly in whatever our fathers did. To do so, would be to
discard all the lights of current experience — we reject all prog-
ress— all improvement. What I do say is, that if we would
supplant the opinions and policy of our fathers in any case, we
should do so upon evidence so conclusive, and argument so clear,
that even their great authority, fairly considered and weighed,
cannot stand ; and most surely not in a case whereof we our-
selves declare they understood the question better than we.

" If any man, at this day, sincerely believes that a proper
division of local from Federal authority, or any part of the
Constitution, forbids the Federal government to control as to
slavery in the Federal territories, he is right to say so, and to
enforce his position by all truthful evidence and fair argument
which he can. But he has no right to mislead others, who have
less access to history and less leisure to study it, into the false
belief that ' our fathers, who framed the government under
which we live,' were of the same opinion — thus substituting false-
hood and deception for truthful evidence and fair argument. If
any man, at this day, sincerely believes' our fathers, who framed
the government under which we live,' used and applied princi-
ples, in other cases, which ought to have led them to understand
that a proper division of local from Federal authority, or some
part of the Constitution, forbids the Federal government to
control as to slavery in the Federal territories, he is right to say
so. But he should, at the same time, brave the responsibility
of declaring that, ia his opinion, he understands their principles

56 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

better than they did themselves ; and especially should he not
shirk that responsibility by asserting that they ' understood the
question just as well, and even better than we do now.'

" But enough. Let all who believe that ' our fathers, who
framed the government under which we live, understood this
question just as well, and even better than we do now,' speak as
they spoke, and act as they acted upon it. This is all Republi-
cans ask, all Republicans desire, in relation to slavery. Ae
those fathers marked it, so let it be again marked, as an evil not
to be extended, but to be tolerated and protected only because
of and so far as its actual presence among us makes that tolera-
tion and protection a necessity. Let all the guaranties those
fathers gave it, be, not grudgingly, but fully and fairly main-
tained. For this Republicans contend, and with this, so far as
I know or believe, they will be content.

"And now, if they would listen — as I suppose they will not —
I would address a few words to the Southern people.

"I would say to them : You consider yourselves a reasonable
and a just people ; and I consider that, in the general qualities
of reason and justice, you are not inferior to any other people.
Still, when you speak of us Republicans, you do so only to de-
nounce us as reptiles, or, at the best, as no better than outlaws.
You will grant a hearing to pirates or murderers, but nothing
like it to ' Black Republicans.' In all your contentions with
one another, each of you deems an unconditional condemnation
of ' Black Republicanism' as the first thing to be attended to.
Indeed, such condemnation of us seems to be an indispensable
prerequisite — license, so to speak — among you to be admitted
or permitted to speak at all.

"Now can you, or not, be prevailed upon to pause and to
consider whether this is quite just to us, or even to yourselves?

" Bring forward your charges and specifications, and then be
patient long enough to hear us deny or justify.

" You say we are sectional. We deny it. That makes an
issue ; and the burden of proof is upon you. You produce your
proof; and what is it? Why, that our party has no existence
in your section — gets no votes in your section. The fact is sub-
stantially true; but does it prove the issue? If it does, then,
in case we should, without change of principle, begin to get
votes in your section, we should thereby cease to be sectional
You cannot escape this conclusion ; and yet, are you willing to
abide by it ? If you are, you will probably soon find that we
have ceased to be sectional, for we shall get votes in your sec-
tion this very year. You will then begin to discover, as the
truth plainly is, that your proof does not touch the issue. The
fact that we get no votes in your section is a fact of your
making, and not of ours, And if there be fault in that fact,
that fault is primarily yours, and remains so until you show that
we repel you by some wrong principle or practice. If we do

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 57

repel you by any wrong principle or practice, the fault is ours ;
but this brings us to where you ought to have started — to a dis-
cussion of the right or wrong of our principle. If our principle,
put in practice, would wrong your section for the benefit of ours,
or for any other object, then our principle, and we with it, are
sectional, and are justly opposed and denounced as such.
Meet us, then, on the question of whether our principle, put in
practice, would wrong your section ; and so meet it as if it were
possible that something may be said on our side. Do you ac-
cept the challenge? No? Then you really believe that the
principle which our fathers, who framed the government under
which we live, thought so clearly right as to adopt it, and indorse
it again and again upon their official oaths, is, in fact, so clearly
wrong as to demand your condemnation without a moment's
consideration.

" Some of you delight to flaunt in our faces the warning
against sectional parties given by Washington in his Farewell
Address. Less than eight years before Washington gave that
warning, he had, as President of the United States, approved
and signed an act of Congress enforcing the prohibition of
slavery in the Northwestern Territory, which act embodied the
policy of the government upon that subject, up to and at the
very moment he peuned that warning; and about one year after
he penned it he wrote Lafayette that he considered that prohi-
bition a wise measure, expressing, in the same connection, his
hope that we should some time have a confederacy of free
States.

" Bearing this in mind, and seeing that sectionalism has since
arisen upon this same subject, is that warning a weapon in your
hands against us, or in our hands against you? Could Wash-
ington himself speak, would he cast the blame of that sectional-
ism upon us, who sustain his policy, or upon you, who repudiate
it? We respect that warning of Washington, and we commend
it to you, together with his example pointing to the right ap-
plication of it.

" But you say you are conservative — eminently conservative-
while we are revolutionary, destructive, or something of the
sort. What is conservatism ? Is it not adherence to the old
and tried against the new and untried? We stick to, contend
for, the identical old policy on the point in controversy which
was adopted by our fathers who framed the government under
which we live; while you, with one accord, reject, and scout,
and spit upon that old policy, and insist upon substituting some-
thing new. True, you disagree among yourselves as to what
that substitute shall be. You have considerable variety of new
propositions and plans, but you are unanimous in rejecting aud
denouncing the old policy of the fathers. Some of you are for
reviving the foreign slave-trade ; some for a Congressional
Slave-Code for the Territories ; some for Congress forbidding

58 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

the Territories to prohibit slavery within their limits ; some for
maintaining slavery in the Territories through the Judiciary ;
some for the 'gur-reat pur-rinciple' that, ' if one man would en-
slave another, no third man should object,' fantastically called
'Popular Sovereignty;' but never a man among you in favor of
Federal prohibition of slavery in Federal Territories, according
to the practice of our fathers who framed the government under
which we live. Not one of all your various plans can show a
precedent or an advocate in the ceutury within which our go-
vernment originated. Consider, then, whether your claim of
conservatism for yourselves, and your charge of destructiveness
against us, are based on the most clear and stable foundations.

"Again, you say we have made the slavery question more
prominent than it formerly was. We deny it. We admit that
it is more prominent, but we deny that we made it so. It was
not we, but you, who discarded the old policy of the fathers.
We resisted, and still resist, your innovation ; and thence comes
the greater prominence of the question. Would you have that
question reduced to its former proportions ? Go back to that
old policy. What has been will be again, under the same con-
ditions. If you would have the peace of the old times, re-adopt
the precepts and policy of the old times.

" You charge that we stir up insurrections among your slaves.
We deny it. And what is your proof ? Harper's Ferry ! John
Brown ! John Brown was no Republican ; and you have failed
to implicate a single Republican in his Harper's Ferry enter-
prise. If any member of our party i3 guilty in that matter, you
know it, or you do not know it. If you do know it, you are in-
excusable to not designate the man, and prove the fact. If you
do not know it, you are inexcusable to assert it, and especi-
ally to persist in the assertion after you have tried and failed to
make the proof. You need not be told that persisting in a
charge which one does not know to be true is 3imply malicious
slander.

" Some of you admit that no Republican designedly aided or
encouraged the Harper's Ferry affair ; but still insist that our
doctrines and declarations necessarily lead to such results. We
do not believe it. We know we hold to no doctrine, and make
no declarations which were not held to and made by our fathers
who framed the government under wrhich we live. You never
deal fairly by us in relation to this affair. When it occurred,
some important State elections were near at hand, and you
were in evident glee with the belief that, by charging the blame
upon us, you could get an advantage of us in those elections.
The elections came, and your expectations were not quite ful-
filled. Every Republican man knew that, as to himself, at least,
your charge was a slander, and he was not much inclined by it
to cast his vote in your favor. Republican doctrines and decla-
rations are accompanied with a continual protest against any

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 59

interference whatever with your slaves, or with you about your
slaves. Surely, this does not encourage them to revolt. True,
we do, in common with our fathers, who framed the government
under which we live, declare our belief that slavery is wrong;
but the slaves do not hear us declare even this. For any thing
we say or do, the slaves would scarcely know there is a Repub-
lican party. I believe they would not, in fact, generally know
it but for your misrepresentations of us in their hearing. In
your political contests among yourselves, each faction charges
the other with sympathy with Black Republicanism; and then,
to give point to the charge, defines Black Republicanism to
simply be insurrection, blood and thunder among the slaves.

" Slave insurrections are no more common now than they
were before the Republican party was organized. What in-
duced the Southampton insurrection, twenty-eight years ago, in
which, at least, three times as many lives were lost as at Har-
per's Ferry? You can scarcely stretch your very elastic fancy
to the conclusion that Southampton was got up by Black Re-
publicanism. In the present state of things in the United
States, I do not think a general, or even a very extensive slave
insurrection, is possible. The indispensable concert of action
cannot be attained. The slaves have no means of rapid com-
munication ; nor can incendiary free men, black or white, sup-
ply it. The explosive materials are everywhere iu parcels ; but
there neither are, nor can be supplied, the indispensable con-
necting trains.

" Much is said by southern people about the affection of
slaves for their masters and mistresses ; and a part of it, at least,
is true. A plot for an uprising could scarcely be devised and
communicated to twenty individuals before some one of them,
to save the life of a favorite master or mistress, would divulge
it. This is the rule ; and the slave revolution in Hayti was not
an exception to it, but a case occurring under peculiar circum-
stances. The gunpowder-plot of British history, though not
conuected with the slaves, was more in point. In that case,
only about twenty were admitted to the secret ; and yet one of
them, in his anxiety to save a friend, betrayed the plot to that
friend, and, by consequence, averted the calamity. Occasional
poisonings from the kitchen, and open or stealthy assassinations
in the held, and local revolts extending to a score or so, will
continue to occur as the natural results of slavery ; but no gen-
eral insurrection of slaves, as I think, can happen in this country
for a long time. Whoever much fears, or much hopes, for such
an event, will be alike disappointed.

" In the language of Mr. Jefferson, uttered many years ago,
'It is still in our power to direct the process of emancipation,
and deportation, peaceably, and in such slow degrees, as that the
evil will wear off insensibly ; and their place be, pari passu,
filled up by free white laborers. If, on the contrary, it is left ti>

60 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN".

force itself on, human nature must shudder at the prospect
held up.'

" Mr. Jefferson did not mean to say, nor do I, that the powet
of emancipation is in the Federal Government. He spoke of
Virginia ; and, as to the power of emancipation, I speak of the
slaveholding States only.

" The Federal Government, however, as we insist, has the
power of restraining the extension of the institution — the power
to insure that a slave insurrection shall never occur on any
American soil which is now free from slavery.

" John Brown's effort was peculiar. It was not a slave insur-
rection. It was an attempt by white men to get up a revolt
among slaves, in which the slaves refused to participate. In
fact, it was so absurd that the slaves, with all their ignorance,
saw plainly enough it could not succeed. That affair, in its
philosophy, corresponds with the many attempts, related in his-
tory, at the assassination of kings and emperors. An enthusiast
broods over the oppression of a people till he fancies himself
commissioned by Heaven to liberate them. He ventures the
attempt, which ends in little else than in his own execution.
Orsini's attempt on Louis Napoleon, and John Brown's attempt
at Harper's Ferry were, in their philosophy, precisely the same.
The eagerness to cast blame on old England in the one case,
and on New England in the other, does not disprove the same-
ness of the two things.

"And how much would it avail you, if you could, by the use
of John Brown, Helper's book, and the like, break up the Re-
publican organization ? Human action can be modified to some
extent, but human nature cannot be changed. There is a judg-
ment and a feeling against slavery in this nation, which cast at
least a million and a-half of votes. You cannot destroy that
judgment and feeliag — that sentiment — by breaking up the poli-
tical organization which rallies around it. You can scarcely
scatter and disperse an army which has been formed into order
in the face of your heaviest fire ; but if you could, how much
would you gain by forcing the sentiment which created it out
of the peaceful channel of the ballot-box, into some other chan-
nel ? What would that other channel probably be ? Would the
number of John Browns be lessened or enlarged by the
operation.

" But you will break up the Union rather than submit to a
denial of your Constitutional rights.

" That has a somewhat reckless sound ; but it would be pal-
liated, if not fully justified, were we proposing, by the mere
force of numbers, to deprive you of some right plainly written
down in the Coustitutiou. But we are proposing no such thing.

"When you make these declarations, you have a specific and
well-understood allusion to an assumed Constitutional right of
yours, to take slaves into the federal territories, and hold them

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN; 61

there as property. But no such right is specifically written in
the Constitution. That instrument is literally silent about any
such right. We, on the contrary, deny that such a right has
any existence in the Constitution, even by implication.

" Your purpose, then, plainly stated, is, that you will destroy
the Government, unless you be allowed to construe and enforce
the Constitution as you please, on all points in dispute between
you and us. You will rule or ruin in all events.

" This, plainly stated, is your language to us. Perhaps you
will say the Supreme Court has decided the disputed Constitu-
tional question in your favor. Not quite so. But waiving the
lawyer's distinction between dictum and decision, the Courts
have decided the question for you in a sort of way. The Courts
have substantially said, it is your Constitutional right to take
slaves into the Federal Territories, and to hold them there as
property.

" When I say the decision was made in a sort of way, I mean
it was made in a divided Court by a bare majority of the Judges,
and they not quite agreeing with one another in the reasons for
making it ; that it is so made as that its avowed supporters
disagree with one another about its meaning, and that it was
mainly based upon a mistaken statement of fact — the statement
in the opinion that ' the right of property in a slave is distinctly
and expressly affirmed in the Constitution.'

" An inspection of the Constitution will show that the right
of property in a slave is not distinctly and expressly affirmed in
it. Bear in mind the Judges do not pledge their judicial
opinion that such right is impliedly affirmed in the Constitution ;
but they pledge their veracity that it is distinctly and expressly
affirmed there — 'distinctly' that is, not mingled with any thing
else — ' expressly' that is, in words meaning just that, without
the aid of any inference, and susceptible of no other meaning.

" If they had only pledged their judicial opinion that such
right is affirmed in the instrument by implication, it would be
open to others to show that neither the word ' slave' nor ' sla-
very' is to be found in the Constitution, nor the word ' property'
even, in any connection with language alluding to the things
slave, or slavery, and that wherever in that instrument the slave
is alluded to, he is called a ' person ;' and wherever his master's
legal right in relation to him is alluded to, it is spoken of as
1 ser-r.ce or labor due,' as a ' debt' payable in service or labor.
Alsc; it would be open to show, by contemporaneous history,
that this mode of alluding to slaves and slavery, instead of
speaking of them, was employed on purpose to exclude from tho
Constitution the idea that there could be property in man.

" To show all this is easy and certain.

" When this obvious mistake of the Judges shall be brought
to their notice, is it not reasonable to expect that they will
withdraw the mistaken statement, and reconsider the conclusion
based upon it ?

62 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN,

"And then it is to be remembered that ' our fathers, who
framed the Government under which we live' — the men who
made the Constitution — decided this same Constitutional question
in our favor, long ago — decided it without a division among them-
selves, when making the decision ; without division among
themselves about the meaning of it after it was made, and so
far as any evidence is left, without basing it upon any mistaken
statement of facts.

" Under all these circumstances, do you really feel yourselves
justified to break up this Government, unless such a court
decision as yours is, shall be at once submitted to, as a conclusive
and final rule of political action.

" But you will not abide the election of a Republican Presi-
dent. In that supposed event, you say, you will destroy the
Union ; and then, you say, the great crime of having destroyed
it will be upon us !

" That is cool. A highwayman holds a pistol to my ear, and
mutters through his teeth, ' stand and deliver, or I shall kill you,
and then you will be a murderer !'

"To be sure, what the robber demanded of me — my money —
was my own ; and I had a clear right to keep it ; but it was no
more my own than my vote is my own ; and threat of death to
me, to extort my money, and threat of destruction to the
Union, to extort my vote, can scarcely be distinguished in
principle.

"A few words now to Republicans. It is exceedingly desira-
ble that all parts of thi3 great Confederacy shall be at peace,
and in harmony, one with another. Let us Republicans do our
part to have it so. Even though much provoked, let us do
nothing through passion and ill temper. Even though the
southern people will not so much as listen to us, let us calmly
consider their demands, and yield to them if, in our deliberate
view of our duty, we possibly can. Judging by all they say and
do, and by the subject and nature of their controversy with us,
let us determine, if we can, what will satisfy them ?

" Will they be satisfied if the Territories be unconditionally
surrendered to them ? We know they will not. In all their
present complaints against us, the Territories are scarcely
mentioned. Invasions and insurrections are the rage now.
Will it satisfy them if, in the future, we have nothing to do with
invasions and insurrections? We know it will not. We so
know because we know we never had any thing to do with
invasions and insurrections ; and yet this total abstaining does
not exempt us from the charge and the denunciation.

" The question recurs, what will satisfy them ? Simply this :
We must not only let them alone, but we must, somehow, con-
vince them that we do let them aione. This, we know by
experience, is no easy task. We have been so trying to
convince them from the very beginning of our c rganization.

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 63

but with no success. In all our platforms and speeches we have
constantly protested our purpose to let them alone ; but this
has had no tendency to convince them. Alike unavailing to
convince them is the fact that they have never detected a man
of us in any attempt to disturb them.

"These natural, and apparently adequate means all failing,
what will convince them ? This, and this only : cease to call
slavery wrong, and join them in calling it right. And this must
be done thoroughly — done in acts as well as in words. Silence
will not be tolerated — we must place ourselves avowedly with
them. Douglas's new sedition law must be enacted and en-
forced, suppressing all declarations that slavery is wrong,
whether made in politics, in presses, in pulpits, or in private.
We must arrest and return their fugitive slaves with greedy
pleasure. We must pull down our Free-State Constitu-
tions. The whole atmosphere must be disinfected from all
taint of opposition to slavery, before they will cease to believe
that all their troubles proceed from us.

" I am quite aware they do not state their case precisely in
this way. Most of them would probably say to us, ' Let U3
alone, do nothing to us, and say what you please about slavery.'
But we do let them alone — have never disturbed them — so that,
after all, it is what we say, which dissatisfies them. They will
continue to accuse us of doing, until we cease saying.

" I am also aware they have not, as yet, in terms demanded
the overthrow of our Free-State Constitutions. Yet those
Constitutions declare the wrong of slavery, with more solemn
emphasis, than do all other sayings against it ; and when all
these other sayings shall have been silenced, the overthrow of
these Constitutions will be demanded, and nothing be left to
resist the demand. It is nothiug to the contrary, that they do
not demand the whole of this just now. Demanding what
they do, aud for the reason they do, they can voluntarily stop
nowhere short of this consummation. Holding, as they do,
that slavery is morally right, and socially elevating, they cannot
cease to demand a full national recognition of it, as a legal
right, and a social blessing.

"Nor can we justifiably withhold this, on any ground save
our couviction that slavery is wrong. If slavery is right, all
words, acts, laws, and constitutions against it, are themselves
wrong, and should be silenced, and swept away. If it is right,
we canncri; justly object to its nationality — its universality; if it
is wrong, they cannot justly insist upon its extension — its
enlargement. All they ask, we could readily grant, if we
thought slavery right ; all we ask, they could as readily grant,
if they thought it wrong. Their thinkiug it right, and our
thinking it wrong, is the precise fact upon which depends the
whole controversy. Thinking it right, as they do, they are not
to blame for desiring its full recognition, as being right ; but,
4

64 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

thinking it wrong, as we do, can we yield to them ? Can we
cast our votes with their view, and against our own ? In view
of our moral, social, and political responsibilities, can we do this ?

" Wrong as we think slavery is, we can yet afford to let i*
alone where it is, because that much is due to the necessity
arisiDg from its actual presence in the nation ; but can we,
while our votes will prevent it, allow it to spread into the
National Territories, and to overrun us here in these Free
States ?

"If our sense of duty forbids this, then let us stand by our
duty, fearlessly and effectively. Let us be diverted by none of
those sophistical contrivances wherewith we are so industriously
plied aud belabored — contrivances such as groping for some
middle ground between the right and the wrong, vain as the
search for a man who should be neither a living man nor a dead
man — such as a policy of ■ don't care' on a question about
which all true men do care — such as Union appeals beseeching
true Union men to yield to Disunionists, reversing the divine
rule, and calling, not the sinners, but the righteous to repen-
tance— such as invocations to Washington, imploring men to
unsay what Washington said, and undo what Washington did.

" Neither let us be slaudered from our duty by false accusations
against us, not frightened from it by menaces of destruction to
the Government, nor of dungeons to ourselves. Let us have
faith that right makes might, and in that faith, let us, to the end,
dare to do our duty, as we understand it."

IS NOMINATED FOB PRESIDENT OP THE
UNITED STATES BY THE REPUBLICAN CON-
VENTION.

On the sixteenth of May, 1860, the Republican National
Convention assembled in Chicago, for the purpose of
nominating candidates for the Presidency and Yice-Presi-
dency. The first day was spent in organizing, and the
second, in adopting rules for the government of the Con-
vention and the platform of the party, and on the third,
the body proceeded to ballot for the two candidates.
Mr. Lincoln was nominated for President by Mr. Judd,
of Illinois, and on the first ballot, received 102 votes, Mr.
Seward receiving, on the same ballot, 173^ votes, and the
balance being divided between the other candidates. On
the second ballot, the vote stood : Lincoln, 181 ; Seward,
184J ; and on the third, Mr. Lincoln received 230J votes,

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 65

or within one and one-half of a nomination. One of the
delegates then changed four votes of his State, giving them
to Air. Lincoln, thus nominating him, and then, amid a
scene of the most intense excitement, vote after vote was
changed to the successful candidate, until at length the
nomination was made unanimous. The selection was re-
ceived by the Republican voters of the country with the
most unbounded enthusiasm, and immediate preparations
wTere made for an arduous campaign. The antecedents
of their standard-bearer were of such an honorable and
noble character, that they felt convinced the different fac-
tions among the opposition — indeed, all who were inspired
more by patriotism than party predilections — would sup-
port him in the canvass and at the ballot-box. The ar-
chitect of his own fortunes, he had raised himself from
obscurity to eminence and distinction. Born in a floorlese
log-cabin, in a Kentucky wilderness ; the child of humble
and uneducated, but Christian parents ; and with no edu-
cation save that received during six months tuition in an
unpretending school-house, and from attentive study at
home by the light of a log fire, Abraham Lincoln, by his
indefatigable perseverance and energy, rapidly rose from
one position of trust and responsibility to another, until
he attained the nomination of a great political party for
the highest office in the gift of the American people.

IS NOTIFIED OF HIS NOMINATION— THE
ADDRESSES ON THE OCCASION.

The committee appointed by the Convention to notify
Mr. Lincoln of his nomination, performed their duty
without delay, and upon arriving at his residence in
Springfield, whither they were escorted by an immense
concourse of citizens, the President of the Convention
addressed the nominee as follows :

68 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN".

SPEECH OF THE PRESIDENT OP THE CON-
VENTION.

"I have, sir, the honor, in behalf of the gentlemen who are
present, a Committee appointed by the Republican Convention,
recently assembled at Chicago, to discharge a most pleasant
duty. We have come, sir, under a vote of instructions to that
Committee, to notify you that you have been selected by the
Convention of the Republicans at Chicago, for President of the
United States. They instruct us, sir, to notify you of that
selection, and that Committee deem it not only respectful to
yourself, but appropriate to the important matter which they
have in hand, that they should come in person, and present to
you the autheutic evidence of the action of that Convention ;
and, sir, without any phrase which shall either be considered
personally plauditory to yourself, or which shall have any refer-
ence to the principles involved in the questions which are con-
nected with your nomination, I desire to present to you the
letter which has been prepared, and which informs you of the
nomination, and with it the platform, resolutions and sentiments,
which the Convention adopted. Sir, at your convenience, we
shall be glad to receive from you such a response as it may be
your pleasure to give us."

REPLY OP MR. LINCOLN.

In response, Mr, Lincoln said :

"Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Committee: I tender
to you, and through you to the Republican National Convention,
and all the people represented in it, my profoundest thanks for
the high honor done me, which you now formally announce.
Deeply, and even painfully sensible of the great responsibility
which is inseparable from this high honor — a responsibility
which I could almost wish had fallen upon some one of the far
more eminent men and experienced statesmen whose distin-
guished names were before the Convention, I shall, by your
leave, consider more fully the resolutions of the Convention,
denominated the platform, and without unnecessary or unrea-
sonable delay, respond to you, Mr. Chairman, in writing, not
doubting that the platform will be found satisfactory, and the
nomination gratefully accepted. And now I will not longer
defer the pleasure of taking you, and each of you, by the hand."

CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN THE CONVEN-
TION AND MR. LINCOLN.

The following letter was addressed to Mr. Lincoln by

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 67

the President of the Convention, and a committee ap-
pointed for that purpose :

" Chicago, May 18th, 1860.
" To the Hon. Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois.

" Sir : The representatives of the Republican party of the
United States, assembled in Convention at Chicago, have this
day by a unanimous vote, selected you as the Republican can-
didate for the office of President of the United States to be
supported at the next election ; and the undersigned were ap-
pointed a Committee of the Convention to apprise you of this
nomination, and respectfully to request that you will accept it.
A declaration of the principles and sentiments adopted by the
Convention accompanies this communication.

" In the performance of this agreeable duty we take leave to
add our confident assurance that the nomination of the Chicago
Convention will be ratified by the suffrages of the people.

" We have the honor to be, with great respect and regard,
your friends and fellow-citizens."

On the 23d, Mr. Lincoln addressed the following letter
to the President of the Convention :

"Springfield, Illinois, May 23r<2, 1860.

"Hon. George Ashman, President of the Republican National
"Convention.

" Sir: I accept the nomination tendered me by the Conven-
tion over which you presided, and of which I am formally ap-
prised in the letter of yourself and others, acting as a Commit-
tee of the Convention for that purpose.

"The declaration of principles and sentiments, which accom-
panies your letter, meets my approval ; and it shall be my care
not to violate, or disregard it, in any part.

" Imploring the assistance of Diviue Providence, and with
due regard to the views and feelings of all who were represented
in the Convention ; to the rights of all the States and Territo-
ries, and people of the nation ; to the inviolability of the Con-
stitution, a^d the perpetual union, harmony and prosperity of
all, I am most happy to co-operate for the practical success of
Jie principles declared by the Convention,

"Your obliged friend and fellow-citizen,

"Abraham Lincoln."

On the sixth of November, 1860, the election for President
took place, with the following result : Mr. Lincoln received
491,275 over Mr. Douglas ; 1,018,499 over Mr. Brecken-

68 LIEE AND SEEVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

ridge, and 1,275,821 over Mr. Bell ; and the vote was
subsequently proclaimed by Congress to be as follows :

For Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois 180

For John G. B re eke n ridge, of Kentucky 72

For John Bell, of Tennessee 39

For Stephen A. Douglas,, of Illinois 12

To describe the various movements and projects which
were devised and consummated in the South between the
time that Mr. Lincoln was elected and the date of his in-
auguration, would require a much larger work than that
which we now offer to the public, and we will therefore
confine our account merely to those which it is unavoid-
ably necessary to mention. The principal and most dia-
bolical plot conceived and recommended by the traitors,
was to prevent the inauguration by obtaining possession
of the Federal Capital, or by assassinating Mr. Lincoln
while on his way thither, or upon the day that the cere-
monies were to take place. Whatever may have been the
plan, or however large the reward offered to the villain
who would accomplish the murderous deed, the object of
their vindictiveness escaped their machinations, and still
continues to administer the government wisely and faith-
fully.

LEAVES SPRINGFIELD FOR WASHINGTON —
OVATIONS ON THE ROUTE.

The President Elect left his home in Springfield, Illinois,
on the eleventh of February, 1861, for Washington, having
before leaving the depot addressed the following words
of farewell to the thousands of his fellow-citizens who haa
assembled at the place of departure :

" My friends : No one not in my position can appreciate the
Badness I feel at this parting. To this people I owe all that I
am. Here I have lived more than a quarter of a century. Here
my children were born, and here one of them lies buried. I
know not how soon I shall see you again. A duty devolves

LIFE AND SBK VICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN". 6i*

upon me which is perhaps greater than that which has devolved
upon any other man since the days of "Washington. He never
would have succeeded except for the aid of Divine Providence,
upon which he at all times relied. I feel that I cannot succeed
without the same Divine aid which sustained him, and in tho
same Almighty Being I place my reliance for support ; and I
hope you, my friends, will all pray that I may receive that
Divine assistance, without which I cannot succeed, but with
which success is certain. Again, I bid you all an affectionate
farewell."

Along the route, multitudes assembled at the railway
stations to greet him. At Toledo, in response to repeated
ealls, Mr. Lincoln appeared on the platform and said :

11 1 am leaving you on an errand of national importance, at-
tended, as you are aware, with considerable difficulties. Let us
believe, as some poet has expressed it, ' Behind the cloud the
sun is shining still.' I bid you an affectionate farewell."

He next proceeded to Indianapolis, where Mr. Lincoln
was welcomed by the Governor of the State, and escorted
by a procession composed of both Houses of the Legis-
lature, the public officers, municipal authorities, military,
and firemen. On reaching the Hotel he addressed the
people as follows :

"Fellow-citizens of the State of Indiana : I am here to thank
you much for this magnificent welcome, and still more for the
very generous support given by your State to that political
cause, which I think is the true and just cause of the whole
country and the whole world. Solomon says 'there is a time to
keep silence ;' and when men wrangle by the mouth, with no
certainty that they mean the same thing while using the same
words, it perhaps were as well if they would keep silence. The
words 'coercion' and 'invasion' are much used in these days,
and often with some temper and hot blood. Let us make sure, if
we can, that we do not misunderstand the meaning of those who
use them. Let us get the exact definitions of these words, not
from dictionaries, but from the men themselves, who certainly
deprecate the things they would represent by the use of the
words. What, then, is 'coercion ?' What is 'invasion ?' "Would
the marching of an army into South Carolina, without the con-
sent of her people, and with hostile intent towards them, be in-
vasion ? I certainly think it would, and it would be ' coercion'
also if the South Carolinians were forced to submit. But if the
United States should merely hold and retake its own forts and
other property, and collect the duties on foreigu importations,

70 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

or even withhold the mails from places where they were habit-
ually violated, would any or all of these things be ' invasion' or
1 coercion V Do our professed lovers of the Union, but who
spitefully resolve that they will resist coercion and invasion, un-
derstand that such things as these, on the part of the United
States, would be coercion or invasion of a State ? If so, their
idea of means to preserve the object of their great affection
would seem to be exceedingly thin and airy. If sick, the little
pills of the homceopathist would be much too large for it to
swallow. In their view, the Union, as a family relation, would
seem to be no regular marriage, but rather a sort of ' free-love'
arrangement, to be maintained on passional attraction. By the
way, in what consists the special sacredness of a State ? I
speak not of the position assigned to a State in the Union by
the Constitution, for that is the bond we all recognize. That
position, however, a State cannot carry out of the Union with
it. I speak of that assumed primary right of a State to rule
all which is less than itself, and to ruin all which is larger than
itself. If a State and a County, in a given case, should be
equal in extent of territory and equal in number of inhabitants,
in what, as a matter of principle, is the State better than the
County? Would an exchange of name be an exchange of
rights ? Upon what principle, upon what risrhtful principle, may
a State, being no more than one-fiftieth part of the nation in
soil and population, break up the nation, and then coerce a pro-
portionally larger subdivision of itself in the most arbitrary
way? What mysterious right to play tyrant is conferred on a
district of country with its people, by merely calling it a State ?
Fellow-citizens, I am not asserting any thing. I am merely
asking questions for you to consider. And now allow me to bid
you farewell."

Proceeding to Cincinnati, he received a most enthusi-
astic welcome. Having been addressed by the mayor ol
the city, and escorted by a civic and military procession
to the Burnet House, he addressed the assemblage in
these words :

"Fellow-citizens : I have spoken but once before this in Cin-
cinnati. That was a year previous to the late Presidential elec-
tion. On that occasion, in a playful manner, but with sincere
words, I addressed much of what I said to the Kentuckians. 1
gave my opinion that we, as Republicans, would ultimately beat
them as Democrats, but that they could postpone the result
longer by nominating Senator Douglas for the Presidency than
they could in any other way. They did not, in any true sense
of the word, nominate Mr. Douglas, and the result has come
certainly as soon as ever I expected.

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 71

" I also told them how I expected they would be treated after
they should have been beaten, and now wish to call their atten-
tion to what I then said :

" ' When we do, as we say we will, beat you, you perhap3
want to know what we will do with you. I will tell you — as far
as I am authorized to speak for the opposition — what we mean
to do with you. We mean to treat you as near as we possibly
can, as Washington, Jefferson, and Madison treated you. Wft
mean to leave you alone, and in no way to interfere with your
institutions ; to abide by all and every compromise of the Con-
stitution. In a word, coming back to the original proposition,
to treat you, as far as degenerate men — if we have degenerated
— may, according to the example of those noble fathers, Wash-
ington, Jefferson, and Madison. We mean to remember that
you are as good as we ; that there is no difference between us
othur than the difference of circumstances. We mean to recog-
nize and bear in mind always that you have as good hearts in
your bosoms as other people, or as we claim to have, and to
treat you accordingly.'

" Fellow-citizens of Kentucky, friends, brethren : May I call
you such ? In my new position I see no occasion and feel no
inclination to retract a word of this. If it shall not be made
good be assured that the fault shall not be mine.'

In the evening he bad a reception, when large crowds
called upon him.

On the next morning he left Cincinnati, and arrived at
Columbus, where he was received with every demonstra-
tion of enthusiasm. He visited the Governor in the Ex-
ecutive Chamber, and was subsequently introduced to the
members of the Legislature in joint session, when he was
formally welcomed by the Lieutenant-Governor, to whom
Mr. Lincoln responded in these words :

" It is true, as has been said by the President of the Senate,
that very great responsibility rests upon me in the position to
which the votes of the American people have called me. I am
deeply sensible of that weighty responsibility. I cannot but
know, what you all know, that without a name — perhaps without
a reason why I should have a name — there has fallen upon me a
task such as did not rest upon the Father of his Country. And
so feeling, I cannot but turn and look for the support without
which it will be impossible for me to perform that great task
I turn, then, and look to the American people, and to that God
who has never forsaken them.

"Allusion has been made to the interest felt in relation to the
policy of the new Administration. In this, I have received

V2 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

from some a degree of credit for having kept silence, from
others some depreciation. I still think I was right. In the
varying and repeatedly shifting scenes of the present, without a
precedent which could enable me to judge for the past, it has
seemed fitting, that before speaking upon the difficulties of the
country I should have gained a view of the whole field. To be
sure, after all, I would be at liberty to modify and change the
course of policy as future events might make a change
necessary.

" I have not maintained silence from any want of real anxiety.
It is a good thing that there is no more than anxiety, for there
is nothing going wrong. It is a consoling circumstance that
when we look out there is nothing that really hurts anybody.
We entertain different views upon political questions, but
nobody is suffering any thing. This is a most consoling circum-
stance, and from it I judge that all we want is time and patience,
and a reliance on that God who has never forsaken this people."

On the 14th of February, Mr. Lincoln proceeded to
Pittsburgh. At Steubenville, on the route, in reply to an
address, he said :

" I fear the great confidence placed in my ability is un-
founded. Indeed, I am sure it is. Encompassed by vast diffi-
culties, as I am, nothing shall be wanted on my part, if
sustained by the American people and God. I believe the
devotion to the Constitution is equally great on both sides of
the river. It is only the different understanding of that instru-
ment that causes difficulties. The only dispute is ' What are
their rights ?' If the majority should not rule who should be
the judge ? Where is such a judge to be found ? We should
all be bound by the majority of the American people — if not,
then the minority must control. Would that be right ? Would
it be just or generous? Assuredly not." He reiterated, the
majority should rule. If he adopted a wrong policy, then the
opportunity to condemn him would occur in four years' time.
" Then I can be turned out and a better man with better views
put in my place."

The next morning he left for Cleveland, but before his

departure he made an address to the people of Pittsburgh,

in which he said :

" In every short address I have made to the people, and in
every crowd through which I have passed of late, some allusion
has been made to the present distracted condition of the coun-
try. It is naturally expected that I should say something upon
this subject, but to touch upon it at all would iuvolve an
elaborate discussion of a great many questions and circum-

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 73

stances, would require more time than I can at present com-
mand, and would perhaps unnecessarily commit me upon matters
which have not yet fully developed themselves.

''The condition of the country, fellow-citizens, is an extra-
ordinary one, and fills the mind of every patriot with anxiety
and solicitude. My intention is to give this subject all the con-
sideration which I possibly can before I speak fully and
definitely in regard to it, so that, when I do speak, I may
be as nearly right as possible. And when I do speak, fellow-
citizens, I hope to say nothing in opposition to the spirit of the
Constitution, contrary to the integrity of the Union, or which
will in any way prove inimical to the liberties of the people or
to the peace of the whole country. And, furthermore, when
the time arrives for me to speak ou this great subject, I hope to
say nothing which will disappoint the reasonable expectations
of any man, or disappoint the people generally throughout the
country, especially if their expectations have been based upon
any thing which I may have heretofore said.

" Notwithstanding the troubles across the river, [the speaker,
smiling, poiuted southwardly to the Monongahela River,] there
is really no crisis springing from any thing in the Government
itself. In plain words, there is really no crisis except an arti-
ficial one. What is there now to warrant the condition of
affairs presented by our friends ' over the river' ? Take even
their own view of the questions involved, and there is nothing
to justify the course which they are pursuing. I repeat it, then,
there is no crisis, except such a one as may be gotten up at
any time by turbulent men, aided by designing politicians.
My advice, then, under such circumstances, is to keep cool. If
the great American people will only keep their temper on both
sides of the line, the trouble wili come to an end, and the ques-
tion which now distracts the country will be settled just as
surely as all other difficulties of like character which have
originated in this Government have been adjusted. Let the
people on both sides keep their self-possession, and just as other
clouds have cleared away in due time, so will this, and this
great nation shall continue to prosper as heretofore."

He then referred to the subject of the tariff, and said :

" According to my political education, I am inclined to be-
lieve that the people in the various portions of the country
should have their own views carried out through their represen-
tatives in Congress. That consideration of the Tariff bill should
not be postponed until the next session of the National Legisla-
ture. No subject should engage your representatives more
closely than that of the tariff. If I have any recommendation
to make, it will be that every man who is called upon to serve
the people, in a representative capacity, should study the whole

7-i LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LIHOGLfif.

subject thoroughly, as I intend to do myself, looking to all the
varied interests of the common country, so that, when the time
for action arrives, adequate protection shall be extended to the
coal and iron of Pennsylvania and the corn of Illinois. Permit
me to express the hope* that this important subject may receive
6uch consideration at the hands of your representatives that the
interests of no part of the country may be overlooked, but that
all sections may share in the common benefits of a just and
equitable tariff."

Mr. Lincoln, upon his arrival in Cleveland, adverted to
the same subject in the following terms :

" It is with you, the people, to advance the great cause of the
Union and the Constitution, and not with any one man. It
rests with you alone. This fact is strongly impressed on my
mind at present. In a community like this, wnose appearance
testifies to their intelligence, I am convinced that the cause of
liberty and the Union can never be in danger. Frequent allu-
sion is made to the excitement at present existing in national
politics. I think there is no occasion for any excitement. The
crisis, as it is called, is altogether an artificial crisis. In all
parts of the nation, there are differences of opinion in politics.
There are differences of opinion even here. You did not all
vote for the person who now addresses you. And how is it with
those who are not here? Have they not all their rights as they
ever had ? Do they not have their fugitive slaves returned now
as ever ? Have they not the same Constitution that they have
lived under for seventy odd years ? Have they not a position
as citizens of this common country, and have we any power to
change that position ? What, then, is the matter with them t
Why all this excitement? Why all these complaints ? As I
said before, this crisis is all artificial. It has no foundation in
fact. It was ' argued up/ as the saying is, and cannot be argued
down. Let it alone, and it will go down itself."

On Saturday he proceeded to Buffalo, where he arrived
at evening, and was met by an immense concourse of citi-
zens, headed by Ex-President Fillmore.

Arriving at the hotel, Mr. Lincoln was welcomed in a
brief speech by the acting chief magistrate, to which he
made a brief reply, as follows :

11 Mr. Mayor and Fellow- Citizens : — I am here to thank you
briefly for this grand reception given to me, not personally, but
as the representative of our great and beloved country. Your
worthy mayor has been pleased to mention in his address to me,

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 75

the fortunate and agreeable journey which I have had from
home — only it is rather a circuitous route to the Federal Capi-
tal. I am very happy that he was enabled, in truth, to congrat-
ulate myself and company on that fact. It is true, we have
had nothing thus far to mar the pleasure of the trip. We have
not been met alone by those who assisted in giving the election
to me ; I say not alone, but by the whole population of tho
country through which we have passed. This is as it should be.
Had the election fallen to any other of the distinguished candi-
dates instead of myself, under the peculiar circumstances, to say
the least, it would have been proper for all citizens to have
greeted him as you now greet me. It is an evidence of the de-
votion of the whole people to the Constitution, the Union, and
the perpetuity of the liberties of this country. I am unwilling,
on any occasion, that I should be so meanly thought of as to
have it supposed for a moment that these demonstrations are
tendered to me personally. They are tendered to the country,
to the institutions of the country, and to the perpetuity of the
liberties of the country for which these institutions were made
and created. Your worthy mayor has thought fit to express
the hope that I may be able to relieve the country from the pre-
sent, or, I should say, the threatened difficulties. I am sure I
bring a heart true to the work. For the ability to perform it, I
trust in that Supreme Being who has never forsaken this favored
land, through the instrumentality of this great and intelligent
people. Without that assistance I should surely fail ; with it
I cannot fail. When we speak of the threatened difficulties to
the country, it is natural that it should be expected that some-
thing should be said by myself with regard to particular mea
sures. Upon more mature reflection, however — and others will
agree with me — that, when it is considered that these difficulties
are without precedent, and never have been acted upon by any
individual situated as I am, it is most proper I should wait and
see the developments, and get all the light possible, so that,
when I do speak authoritatively, I may be as near right as possi-
ble. When I shall speak authoritatively, I hope to say nothing
inconsistent with the Constitution, the Union, the rights of all
the States, of each State, and of each section of the country,
and not to disappoint the reasonable expectations of those who
have confided to me their votes. In this connection, allow me
to say that you, as a portion of the great American people, need
only to maintain your composure, stand up to your sober con-
victions of right, to your obligations to the Constitution, and
act in accordance with those sober convictions, and the clouds
which now arise in the horizon will be dispelled, and we shall
have a bright and glorious future ; and, when this generation
shall have passed away, tens of thousands shall inhabit this
country where only thousands inhabit it now. I do not propose
to address you at length. I have no voice for it. Allow me

76 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

again to thank you for this magnificent reception, and bid yon
farewell."

Mr. Lincoln then proceeded from Buffalo to Albany.
Here he was met by the Mayor, the City Councils, and
the Legislative Committees, and was conducted to the
Capitol, w'here he was welcomed by Governor Morgan,
and responded briefly, as follows :

"Governor Morgan: — I was pleased to receive an invitation
to visit the capital of the great Empire State of this nation,
while on my way to the Federal capital. I now thank you, and
you, the people of the capital of the State of New York, for
this most hearty and magnificent welcome. If I am not at fault,
the great Empire State at this time contains a larger population
than did the whole of the United States of America at the time
they achieved their national independence ; and I was proud to
be invited to visit its capital, to meet its citizens as I now have
the honor to do. I am notified by your governor that this re-
ception is tendered by citizens without distinction of party.
Because of this, I accept it the more gladly. In this country,
aud in any country where freedom of thought is tolerated, citi-
zens attach themselves to political parties. It is but an ordi-
nary degree of charity to attribute this act to the supposition
that, in thus attaching themselves to the various parties, each
man, in his own judgment, supposes he thereby best advances
the interests of the whole country. And when an election is
passed, it is altogether befitting a free people that, until the
next election, they should be one people. The reception you
have extended me to-day is not given to me personally. It
should not be so, but as the representative, for the time being,
of the majority of the nation. If the election had fallen to any
of the more distinguished citizens, who received the support of
the people, this same honor should have greeted him that greets
me this day, in testimony of the unanimous devotion of the whole
people to the Constitution, the Union, and to the perpetual
liberties of succeeding generations in this country. I have
neither the voice nor the strength to address you at any greater
length. I beg you will, therefore, accept my most grateful
thauks for this manifest devotion — not to me but to the institu-
tions of this great and glorious country."

He was then conducted to the Legislative halls, where,
in reply to an address of welcome, he again adverted to
the troubles of the country in the following terms :

"Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Legislature of th*

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 77

State of Next) York : — It is with feelings of great diffidence, and,
I may say, feelings even of awe, perhaps greater than I have re-
cently experienced, that I meet you here in this place. The
history of this great State, the renown of its great men, who
have st Dod in this chamber, and have spoken their thoughts, all
crowd around my fancy, and incline me to shrink from an attempt
to address you. Yet I have some confidence given me by the
generous manner in which you have invited me, and the still
mure generous maimer in which you have received me. You
have invited me and received me without distinction of party.
I could not for a moment suppose that this has been done in any
considerable degree with any reference to my personal self. It
is very much more grateful to me that this reception and the
invitation preceding it were given to me as the representative
of a free people than it could possibly have been were they but
the evidence of devotion to me or to any one man. It is true
that, while I hold myself, without mock-modesty, the humblest
of all the individuals who have ever been elected President of the
United States, I yet have a more difficult task to perform than
any one of them has ever encountered. You have here gen-
erously tendered me the support, the united support, of the great
Empire State. For this, in behalf of the nation — in behalf of
the Presideut and of the future of the nation — in behalf of the
cause of civil liberty in all time to come — I most gratefully
thank you. I do not propose now to enter upon any expressions
as to the particular line of policy to be adopted with reference
to the difficulties that stand before us in the opening of the in-
coming Administration. 1 deem that it is just to the country,
to myself, to you, that I should see every thing, hear every
thing, and have every light that can possibly be brought within
my reach to aid me before I shall speak officially, in order that,
when I do speak, I may have the best possible means of taking
correct and true grounds. For this reason, I do not now an-
nounce any thing in the way of policy for the new Administra-
tion. When the time comes, according to the custom of the
government, I shall speak, and speak as well as I am able for
the good of the present and of the future of this country — for the
good of the North aud of the South — for the good of one and
of the other, and of all sections of it. In the meantime, if we
have patience, if we maintain our equanimity, though some may
allow themselves to run off in a burst of passion, I still have con-
fidence that the Almighty Ruler of the Universe, through the
instrumentality of this great and intelligent people, can and will
bring us through this difficulty, as he has heretofore brought us
through all preceding difficulties of the country. Relying upon
this, and again thanking you, as I forever shall, in my heart, lor
this generous receptiou you have given me, I bid you farewell."

At Albany, he was met by a delegation from the city
authorities of New York, and on the 19th started for that

78 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

city. At Poughkeepsie, he was welcomed by the Mayor
of the city. Mr. Lincoln, in reply, said :

"I am grateful for this cordial welcome, and I am gratified
that this immense multitude has come together, not to meet the
individual man, but the man who, for the time being, will humbly
but earnestly represent the majesty of the nation. These re-
ceptions have been given me at other places, and, as here, by
men of different parties, and not by one party alone. It shows
an earnest effort on the part of all to save, not the country, for
the country can save itself, but to save the institutions of the
country — those institutions under which, for at least three-
quarters of a century, we have become the greatest, the most
intelligent, and the happiest people in the world. These mani-
festations show that we all make common cause for these ob-
jects ; that if some of us are successful in an election, and others
are beaten, those who are beaten are not in favor of sinking the
ship in consequence of defeat, but are earnest in their purpose
to sail it safely through the voyage in hand, and, in so far as they
may think there has been any mistake in the election, satisfying
themselves to take their chance at setting the matter right the
next time. That course is entirely right. 1 am not sure — I do
not pretend to be sure — that in the selection of the individual
who has been elected this term, the wisest choice has been made.
I fear it has not. In the purposes and in the principles that
have been sustained, I have been the instrument selected to
carry forward the affairs of this Government. I can rely upon
you, and upon the people of the country ; and with their sus-
taining hand, I think that even I shall not fail in carrying the
Ship »f State through the storm."

The reception of President Lincoln in New York City
was a most imposing demonstration. Places of business
were generally closed, and hundreds of thousands were in
the streets. On the next day, he was welcomed to the
city by Mayor Wood, and replied as follows :

"jKr. Mayor: It is with feelings of deep gratitude that I
make my acknowledgments for the reception given me in the
great commercial city of New York. I cannot but remember
that this is done by a people who* do not, by a majority, agree
with me in political sentiment. It is the more grateful, because
in this I see that, for the great principles of our Government,
the people are almost unanimous. In regard to the difficulties
that confront us at this time, and of which your Honor has
thought fit to speak so becomingly and so justly, as 1 suppose,
I can only say that I agree in the sentiments expressed. In my

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 79

devotion to the Union, I hope I am behind no man in the nation
In the wisdom with which to conduct the affairs tending to the
preservation of the Union, I fear that too great confidence may
have been reposed in me ; but I am sure I bring a heart devoted
to the work. There is nothing that could ever brin^ me to wil-
lingly consent to the destruction of this Union, under which not
only the great commercial city of New York, but the whole
cointry acquired its greatness, except it be the purpose for
which the Union itself was formed. I understand the ship to
be made for the carrying and the preservation of the cargo and
so long as the ship can be saved with the cargo, it should never
be abandoned, unless it fails the possibility of its preservation
and shall cease to exist, except at the risk of throwing overboard
both freight and passengers. So long, then, as it is possible that
the prosperity and the liberties of the people be preserved in this
Union, it shall be my purpose at all times to use all my powers
to aid in its perpetuation. Again thanking you for the recep-
tion given me, allow me to come to a close."

On the next day, he left for Philadelphia. At Trenton,
ne remained a few hours, and visited both Houses of the
Legislature. On being received in the Senate, he thus
addressed that body :

"Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Senate of the State of
New Jersey: I am very grateful to you for the honorable recep-
tion of which I have been the object. I cannot but remember
the place that New Jersey holds in our early history. In the
early Revolutionary struggle, few of the States among the old
Thirteen had more of the battle-fields of the country within its
limits than old New Jersey. May I be pardoned, if, upon this
occasion, I mention, that away back in my childhood, the earliest
days of my being able to read, I got hold of a small book, such
a one as few of the younger members have ever seen, ' Weems'
Life of Washington.' I remember all the accounts there given
of the battle-fields and struggles for the liberties of the country,
and none fixed themselves upon my imagination so deeply as the
struggle here at Trenton, New Jersey. The crossing of the
river — the contest with the Hessians— the great hardships en-
dured at that time — all fixed themselves on my memory more
than any single revolutionary event; and you all know, for you
have all been boys, how these early impressions last longer thau
any others. I recollect thinking then, boy even though I was.
that there must have been something more than common that
those men struggled for. I am exceedingly anxious that that
thing which they struggled for— that something even more than
National Independence— that something that held out a great
promise to all the people of the world to all time to come— I am
5

80 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

exceedingly anxious that this Union, the Constitution, and the
liberties of the people, shall be perpetuated in accordance with
the original idea for which that struggle was made, and I shall
be most happy indeed if I shall be an humble instrument in the
hands of the Almighty, and of this. His almost chosen people,
for perpetuating the object of that great struggle. You give
me this reception, as I understand, without distinction of party.
I learn that this body is composed of a majority of gentlemen
who, in the exercise of their best judgment in the choice of a
Chief Magistrate, did not think I was the man. I understand,
nevertheless, that they came forward here to greet me as the
constitutional President of the United States— as citizens of the
United States, to meet the man who, for the time being, is the
representative man of the nation, united by a purpose to per-
petuate the Union and liberties of the people. As such, I ac-
cept this reception more gratefully than I could do did I believe
it was tendered to me as an individual."

He then passed into the Chamber of the Assembly, and
npon being introduced by the Speaker, addressed that
bodv as follows :

"Mr. Speaker and Gentlemen : I have just enjoyed the honor
of a reception by the other branch of this Legislature, and I re-
turn to you and them my thanks for the reception which the
people of New Jersey have given, through their chosen repre-
sentatives, to me, as the representative, for the time being, of
the majesty of the people of the United States. I appropriate
to myself very little of the demonstrations of respect with which
I have been greeted. I think little should be given to any man,
but that it should be a manifestation of adherence to the Union
and the Constitution. I understand myself to be received here
by the representatives of the people of New Jersey, a majority
of whom differ in opinion from those with whom I have acted.
This manifestation is therefore to be regarded by me as expres-
sing their devotion to the Union, the Constitution, and the lib-
erties of the people. You, Mr. Speaker, have well said, that
this is the time when the bravest and wisest look with doubt and
awe upon the aspect presented by our national affairs. Under
these circumstances, you will readily see why I should not speak
in detail of the course I shall deem it best to pursue. It is
proper that I should avail myself of all the information and all
the time at my command, in order that when the time ai rives in
which I must speak officially. I shall be able to take the ground
which I deem the best and safest, and from which I may have
no occasion to swerve. I shall endeavor to take the ground I
deem most just to the North, the East, the West, the South, and
the whole country. I take it, I hope, in good temper — certainly

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 81

with no malice towards any section. I shall do all that may be
in my power to promote a peaceful settlement of all our difficul-
ties. The man does not live who is more devoted to peace than
1 am — none who would do more to preserve it. But it may be
necessary to put the foot down firmly. And if I do my duty,
and do right, you will sustain me, will you not? Eeceived, as I
am, by the members of a Legislature, the majority of whom do
not agree with me in political sentiments, I trust that I may
have their assistance in piloting the Ship of State through this
voyage, surrounded by perils as it is ; for if it should suffer ship-
wreck now, there will be no pilot ever needed for another voy-
age."

On his arrival in Philadelphia, he was received with
great enthusiasm, and the Mayor greeted him with the
following address :

"Sir: In behalf of the Councils of Philadelphia and of its
citizens, who, with common respect for their chief Magistrate-
elect, have greeted your arrival, I tender you the hospitality of
this city. I do this as the official representative of ninety thou-
sand hearths, around which dwell six hundred thousand people,
firm and ardent in their devotion to the Union ; and yet it may
not be withheld, that there are but few of these firesides whose
cheer is not straitened and darkened by the calamitous condition
of our country. The great mass of this people are heartily weary
and sick of the selfish schemes and wily plots of mere politicians,
who bear no more relation to true statesmanship than do the
barnacles which incrust the ship to the master who stands by
the helm. Your fellow-countrymen look to you in the earnest
hope that true statesmanship and unalloyed patriotism may,
with God's blessing, restore peace and prosperity to this dis-
tracted land. It is to be regretted that your short stay pre-
cludes that intercourse with the merchants, manufacturers, me-
chanics, and other citizens of Philadelphia, which might afford
you a clear discernment of their great interests. And, sir, it
could not be other than grateful to yourself to have the oppor-
tunity of communicating with the memories of the past, in those
historic walls where were displayed the comprehensive intellects,
and the liberal, disinterested virtues of our fathers, who framed
the Constitution of the Federal States, over which you have
been called upon to preside."

Mr. Lincoln replied :

" Mr. Mayor and Fellow -citizens of Philadelphia : I appear
before you to make no lengthy speech but to thank you for this
reception. The reception you have given me to-night is not to
me, the man, the individual, but to the man who temporarily

82 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

represents, or should represent, the majesty of the nation. It is
true, as your worthy Mayor has said, that there is anxiety among
the citizens of the United States at this time. I deem it a happy
circumstance that this dissatisfied portiou of our fellow-citizens
do not point us to any thing in which they are being injured, or
are about to be injured ; for which reason I have felt all the
while justified in concluding that the crisis, the panic, the anxiety
of the country at this time, is artificial. If there be those who
differ with me upon this subject, they have not pointed out the
substantial difficulty that exists. I do not mean to say that an
artificial panic may not do considerable harm ; that it has done
such I do not deny. The hope that has been expressed by your
Mayor, that I may be able to restore peace, harmony, and pros-
perity to the country, is most worthy of him ; and happy indeed
will I be if I shall be able to verify and fulfil that hope. I
promise you, in all sincerity, that I bring to the work a sincere
heart. Whether I will bring a head equal to that heart, will be
for future times to determine. It were useless for me to speak
of details of plans now; I shall speak officially next Monday
week, if ever. If I should not speak then, it were useless for
me to do so now. If I do speak then, it is useless for me to do
so now. When I do speak, 1 shall take such ground as I deem
best calculated to restore peace, harmony, and prosperity to the
country, and tend to the perpetuity of the nation, and the liberty
of these States and these people. Your worthy Mayor has ex-
pressed the wish, in which I join with him, that it were con-
venient for me to remain with your city long enough to consult
your merchants and manufacturers ; or, as it were, to listen to
those breathings rising within the consecrated walls wherein the
Constitution of the United States, and, I will add, the Declara-
tion of Independence, were originally framed and adopted. I
assure you and your Mayor, that I had hoped on this occasion,
and upon all occasions during my life, that I shall do nothing
inconsistent with the teachings of these holy and most sacred
walls. I never asked any thing that does not breathe from those
walls. All my political warfare has been in favor of the teach-
ings that come forth from these sacred walls. May my right
hand forget its cunning, and my tongue cleave to the roof of
my mouth, if ever I prove false to those teachings. Fellow-citi-
zens, now allow me to bid you good-night."

On the next morning, Mr. Lincoln visited the old " In-
dependence Hall," for the purpose of raising the national
flag over it. Here he was received with a warm welcome,
and made the following address :

"I am filled with deep emotion at finding myself standing
hero, in this place, where were collected the wisdom, the patriot-

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 83

Ism, the devotion to principle, from which sprang the institutions
under which we live. You have kindly suggested to me that in
my hands is the task of restoring peace to the present distracted
condition of the country. I cau say in return, sir, that all the
political sentiments I entertain have been drawn, so far as I
have been able to draw them, from the sentiments which origi-
nated and were given to the world from this hall. I have never
had a feeling politically that did not spring from the sentiments
embodied in the Declaration of Independence. I have often
pondered over the dangers which were incurred by the men who
assembled here, and framed and adopted that Declaration of In-
dependence. I have pondered over the toils that were endured
by the officers and soldiers of the army who achieved that inde-
pendence. I have often inquired of myself what great principle
or idea it was that kept this Confederacy so long together. It
was not the mere matter of the separation of the colonies from
the mother-land, but that sentiment in the Declaration of Inde-
pendence which gave liberty, not alone to the people of this
country, but, I hope, to the world for all future time. It was
that which gave promise that in due time the weight would bs
lifted from the shoulders of all men. This is a sentiment em-
bodied in the Declaration of Independence. Now, my frieuds:
cau this country be saved upon this basis ? If it can, I will
consider myself one of the happiest men in the world if I cau
help to save it. If it cannot be saved upon that principle, it
will be truly awful. But if this country cannot be saved with-
out giving up that principle, I was about to say I would rather
be assassinated on this spot than surrender it. Now, in my
view of th^ present aspect of affairs, there need be no bloodshed
or war. There is no necessity for it. I am not in favor of such
a course, and I may say, in advance, that there will be no blood-
shed unless it be forced upon the government, and then it will
be compelled to act in self-defence.

" My friends, this is wholly an unexpected speech, and I did
not expect to be called upon to say a word when I came here.
I supposed it was merely to do something towards raising the
flag. I may, therefore, have said something indiscreet. I have
said nothing but what I am willing to live by, and, if it be the
pleasure of Almighty God, to die by."

The party then proceeded to a platform erected in front
of the State House, and Mr. Benton, of the Select Council,
invited the President-elect to raise the flag. Mr. Lincoln
responded in a brief speech, stating his cheerful compli-
ance with the request, and alluded to the original flag of
thirteen stars, saying that the number had increased as

84 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

time rolled on, and we became a happy and a powerful
people, each star adding to its prosperity. " The future,"
he added, " is in the hands of the people. It is on such an
occasion as this that we can reason together, reaffirm our
devotion to the country and the principles of the Declara-
tion of Independence. Let us make up our mind, that
when we do put a new star upon our banner, it shall be a
fixed one, never to be dimmed by the horrors of war, but
brightened by the contentment and prosperity of peace.
Let us go on to extend the area of our usefulness, add
star upon star, until their light shall shine upon five hun-
dred millions of a free and happy people."

The President-elect then raised the flag to the top of
the st a ft*.

At half-past 9 o'clock the party left for Harrisburg.

Both Houses of the Legislature were visited bv Mr. Lin-

coin, and to an address of welcome he thus replied :

" I appear before you only for a very few brief remarks, in
response to what has been said to me. I thank you most sin-
cerely for this reception, and the generous words in which sup-
port has been promised me upon this occasion. I thank your
great commonwealth for the overwhelming;- support it recently
gave, not to me personally, but the cause, which I think a just
one, in the late election. Allusion has been made to the fact — -
the interesting fact, perhaps we should say — that I, for the first
time, appear at the Capital of the great Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania upon the birthday of the Father of his Country,
in connection with that beloved anniversary connected with the
history of this country. I have already gone through one ex-
ceedingly interesting scene this morning in the ceremonies at
Philadelphia. Under the high conduct of gentlemen there. I
was, for the first time, allowed the privilege of standing in Old
Independence Hall, to have a few words addressed to me there,
and opening up to me an opportunity of expressing, with much
regret, that I had not more time to express something of my
own feelings, excited by the occasion, somewhat to harmonize
and give shape to the feelings that had been really the feelings
of my whole life. Besides this, our friends there had provided a
maguificent flag of the country. They had arranged it so that I
was given the honor of raising it to the head of its staff. And
when it went up I was pleased that it went to its place by the
strength of my own feeble arm j when, according to the arrange-

LIFE 1ND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 85

tnent, the cord was pulled, and it flaunted gloriously to the wind
without an accident, in the bright glowing sunshine of the morn-
ing, I could not help hoping that there was in the entire success
of that beautiful ceremony at least something of an omen of
what is to come. Nor could I help feeling then, as I often have
felt, in the whole of that proceeding, I was a very humble in-
strument. I had not provided the flag ; I had not made the ar-
rangements for elevating it to its place. I had applied but a
very small portion of my feeble strength in raising it. In the
whole transaction I was in the hands of the people^who had ar-
ranged it, and if I can have the same generous cooperation of
the people of the nation, I think the flag of our country may yet
be kept flauuting gloriously. I recur for a moment but to
repeat some words uttered at the hotel in regard to what has
been said about the military support which the General Gov-
ernment may expect from the Commonwealth of Pennsylva-
nia in a proper emergency. To guard against any possible
mistake do I recur to this. It is not with any pleasure that
1 contemplate the possibility that a uecessity may arise in
this country for the use of the military arm. While 1
am exceedingly gratified to see the manifestation upon your
streets of your military force here, and exceedingly gratified
at your promise here to use that force upon a proper
emergency — while I make these acknowledgments, I desire
to repeat, in order to preclude any possible misconstruction,
that I do most sincerely hope that we shall have no use for
them ; that it will never become their duty to shed blood, and
most especially never to shed fraternal blood. I promise that,
so far as I may have wisdom to direct, if so painful a result
shall in any wise be brought about, it shall be through no fault
of mine. Allusion has also been made by one of your honored
speakers to some remark recently made by myself at Pittsburg,
in regard to what is supposed to be the especial interests of this
great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. I now wish only to say,
in regard to that matter, that the few remarks which I uttered
on that occasion were rather carefully worded. I took pains
that they should be so. I have seen no occasion since to add to
them or subtract from them. I leave them precisely as they
stand, adding only now, that I am pleased to have an expres-
sion from you, gentlemen of Pennsylvania, significant that they
are satisfactory to you. And now, gentlemen of the General
Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, allow me to
return you again my most sincere thanks."

PLOT TO ASSASSINATE HIM— HOW IT WAS
THWARTED.

Arrangements had been made for his departure from

86 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

Harrisburg on the following morning, but the discovery
of a plot to assassinate him as he passed through Balti-
more— a plot in which some of the principal residents of
that city were interested, although their projects were to
be accomplished by means of paid emissaries — caused a
change in the schedule, and on the evening of the day that
he had been received by the Legislature, he left in a
special train for Philadelphia, and from thence proceeded
in the sleeping-car attached to the regular midnight train
to Washington, where he arrived at an early hour on the
morning of the twenty-third.

The sudden departure of Mr. Lincoln from the Penn-
sylvania State Capital naturally astonished the people of
the country ; and while the loyal citizens exulted in the
fact that he was safe in Washington, the traitors and their
sympathizers were greatly exasperated at the failure of
their nefarious designs, and pronouncing the movement
an act of cowardice, solemnly declared that he should
never be inaugurated.

IS WELCOMED TO WASHINGTON BY THE
AUTHORITIES.

A few days after his arrival he was waited upon by the
Mayor and other municipal authorities, who welcomed
him to the city, and to whom he made the following
reply :

"Mr. Mayor : I thank you, and through you the municipal
authorities of this city who accompany you, for this welcome.
And as it is the first time in my life since the present phase of
politics has presented itself in this country, that I have said
auy thing publicly within a region of country where the institu-
tion of slavery exists, I will take this occasion to say that I
think very much of the ill-feeling that has existed, and still ex-
ists, between the people in the sections from whence I came
and the people here, is dependent upon a misunderstanding of
one another. I therefore avail myself of this opportunity to
assure you, Mr. Mayor, and all the gentleman present, that I
have not now, and never have had, any other than as kindly

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 87

feelings towards you as the people of my own section. I hare
not now, and never have had, any disposition to treat you in any
respect otherwise than as my own neighbors. I have not now
any purpose to withhold from you any of the benefits of the
Constitution, under any circumstances, that I would not feel
myself constrained to withhold from my neighbors ; and I hope,
in a word, that, when we shall become better acquainted, and I
say it with great confidence, we shall like each other the more. I
thank you for the kindness of this reception."

ADDRESSES THE REPUBLICAN ASSOCIATION.

On the following evening the Republican Association
tendered him a delightful serenade, at the conclusion of
which he made the following remarks to the assembled
crowd :

"My friends: I suppose that I may take this as a compli-
ment paid to me, and as such please accept my thanks for it.
I have reached this city of AVashington under circumstances
considerably differing from those under which any other man
h;is ever reached it. I am here for the purpose of taking an
official position amongst the people, almost all of whom were
politically opposed to me, and are yet opposed to rne as I
suppose. I propose no lengthy address to you. I only propose
to say, as I did on yesterday, when your worthy Mayor and
Board of Aldermen called upon me, that I thought much of the
ill-feeling that has existed between you and the people of your
surroundings and that people from amongst whom I came, has
depended, and now depends, upou a misunderstanding.

'• I hope that, if things shall go along as prosperously as I
believe we all desire they may, I may have it in my power to re-
move something of this misunderstanding; that I may be
enabled to convince you, and the people of your section of the
country, that we regard you as in all things our equals, and in
all things entitled to the same respect and the same treatment
lhat we claim for ourselves ; that we are in nowise disposed, if
it were in our power, to oppress you, to deprive you of any of
your rights under the Constitution of the United States, or even
narrowly to split hairs with you in regard to those rights, but
are determined to give you, as far as lies in our hands, all your
rights under the Constitution — not grudgingly, but fully and
fairly. I hope that, by thus dealing with you, we will become
better acquainted, and be better friends. And now, my friends,
with these few remarks, and again returning my thanks for this
compliment, and expressing my desire to hear a little more of
your good music, I bid you good-night."

88 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

IS INAUGURATED PRESIDENT OP THE
UNITED STATES.

On the fourth of March, 1861, Abraham Lincoln was
inaugurated the Sixteenth President of the United States,
the ceremonies incident to the event being of the most
imposing description. A large number of troops partici-
pated in the procession, and every arrangement was made
to frustrate any movement the Secessionists or their
friends might make to prevent the choice of a majority of
the voters of the nation from taking the oath of office.
From a platform erected in the usual position on the east
front of the capitol, and in the presence of not less than
ten thousand persons, Mr. Lincoln delivered the following
Inaugural Address:

INAUGURAL ADDRESS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

"Fellow-citizens of the United States :

" In compliance with a custom as old as the Government it-
self, I appear before you to address you briefly, and to take, in
your presence, the oath prescribed by the Constitution of the
United States to be takeu by the President, before he enters on
the execution of his office.

" I do not consider it necessary, at present, for me to discuss
those matters of administration about which there is no special
anxiety or excitement. Apprehension seems to exist among the
people of the Southern States, that, by the accession of a Re-
publican Administration, their property and their peace and
personal security are to be endangered. There has never been
any reasonable cause for such apprehension. Indeed, the most
ample evidence to the contrary has all the while existed, and
been open to their inspection. It is found in nearly all the pub-
lished speeches of him who now addresses you. 1 do but quote
from one of those speeches, when I declare that ' I have no pur-
pose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of
slavery in the States where it exists.' I believe I have no law-
ful right to do so ; and I have no inclination to do so. Those
who nominated and elected me, did so with the full knowledge
that I had made this, and made many similar declarations, aud
had never recanted them. And more than this, they placed iu
the platform, for my acceptance, and as a law to themselves and
to me, the clear and emphatic resolution which I now read :

" 'Resolved, That the maintenance inviolate of the rights of

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 89

the States, and especially the right of each State to order and
control its own domestic institutions according to its own judg-
ment exclusively, is essential to that balance of power on which
the perfection and endurance of our political fabric depend ; and
we denounce the lawless invasion by armed force of the soil of
any State or Territory, no matter under what pretext, as among
the gravest of crimes.'

" I now reiterate these sentiments ; and in doing so I only
press upon the public attention the most conclusive evidence of
which the case is susceptible, that the property, peace, and se-
curity of no sectiou are to be in anywise endangered by the now
incoming Administration.

" I add, too, that all the protection which, consistently with
the Constitution and the laws, can be given, will be cheerfully
given to all the States when lawfully demanded, for whatever
cause, as cheerfully to one section as to another.

" There is much controversy about the delivering up of fugi-
tives from service or labor. The clause I now read is as plainly
written in the Constitution as any other of its provisions :

"'No person held to service or labor in one State under the
laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any
law or regulation therein, be discharged from such service or
labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom
such service or labor may be due.'

" It is scarcely questioned that this provision was intended by
those who made it for the reclaiming of what we call fugitive
slaves ; and the intention of the lawgiver is the law.

"All members of Congress swear their support to the whole
Constitution — to this provision as well as any other. To the
proposition, then, that slaves whose cases come within the terms
of this clause 'shall be delivered up,' their oaths are unanimous.
Now, if they would make the effort in good temper, could they
not, with nearly equal unanimity, frame and pass a law by means
of which to keep good that unanimous oath?

" There is some difference of opinion whether this clause
should be enforced by national or by State authority; but
surely that difference is not a very material one. If the slave
is to be surrendered, it can be of but little consequence to him
or to others by which authority it is done ; and should any one,
in any case, be content that this oath shall go unkept on a
merely un substantial controversy as to how it shall be kept?

"Again, in any law upon this subject, ought not all the safe-
guards of liberty known in the civilized and humane jurisprudence
to be introduced, so that a free man be not, in any case, surren-
dered as a slave? And might it not be well at the same time to
provide by law for the enforcement of that clause in the Consti-
tution, which guarantees that ' the citizens of each State shall be
entitled to all the privileges and immunities of citizens in tho
several States?'

90 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

" I take the official oath to-day with no mental reservations,
and with no purpose to construe the Constitution or laws by
any hypercritical rules ; and while I do not choose now to
specify particular acts of Congress as proper to be enforced, I
do suggest that it will be much safer for all, both in official and
private stations, to conform to and abide by all those acts which
stand unrepealed, than to violate any of them, trusting to find
impunity in having them held to be unconstitutional.

" It is seventy-two years since the first inauguration of a
President under our national Constitution. During that period
fifteen different and very distinguished citizens have in succes-
sion administered the executive branch of the government.
They have conducted it through many perils, and generally
with great success. Yet, with all this scope for precedent, I
now enter upon the same task, for the brief constitutional term
of four years, under great and peculiar difficulties.

"A disruption of the Federal Union, heretofore only menaced,
is now formidably attempted. I hold that in the contemplation
of universal law and of the Constitution, the Union of these
States is perpetual. Perpetuity is implied, if not expressed, in
the fundamental law of all national governments. It is safe
to assert that no government proper ever had a provision in its
organic law for its own termination. Continue to execute all
the express provisions of our national Constitution, and the
Union will endure forever, it being impossible to destroy it ex-
cept by some action not provided for in the instrument itself.

"Again, if the United States be not a government proper, but
an association of States in the nature of a contract merely, can
it, as a contract, be peaceably unmade by less than all the parties
who made it? One party to a contract may violate it — break it,
so to speak; but does it not require all to lawfully rescind it?
Descending from these general principles, we find the proposi-
tion that in legal contemplation the Union is perpetual, con-
firmed by the history of the Uuion itself.

" The Union is much older than the Constitution. It was
formed, in fact, by the Articles of Association in 1774. It was
matured and continued in the Declaration of Independence in
1776. It was further matured, and the faith of all the then
thirteen States expressly plighted and engaged that it should be
perpetual, by the Articles of Confederation, in 1778; and,
finally, in 1787, one of the declared objects for ordaining and
establishing the Constitution was to form a more perfect
Union. But if the destruction of the Union by one or by a
part only of the States be lawfully possible, the Union is less
than before, the Constitution having lost the vital element of
perpetuity.

" It follows from these views that no State, upon its own me^e
motion, can lawfully get out of the Union ; that resolvea and
ordinances to that effect are legally void ; and that acts of vio

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 91

lence within any State or States against the authority of the
United States are insurrectionary or revolutionary, according to
circumstances.

" I therefore consider that, in view of the Constitution and
the laws, the Union is unbroken, and, to the extent of my
ability, I shall take care, as the Constitution itself expressly
enjoins upon me, that the laws of the Uuion shall be faithfully
executed in all the States. Doing this, which I deem to be only
a simple duty on my part, I shall perfectly perform it, so far as
is practicable, unless my rightful masters, the American people,
shall withhold the requisition, or, in some authoritative manner,
direct the contrary.

" I trust this will not be regarded as a menace, but only as the
declared purpose of the Union that it will constitutionally defend
and maintain itself.

"In doing this there need be no bloodshed or violence, and
there shall be none unless it is forced upon the national au-
thority.

" The power confided to me will be used to hold, occupy, and
possess the property and places belonging to the government, and
collect the duties and imposts ; but beyond what may be neces-
sary for these objects there will be no invasion, no using of force
against or among the people anywhere.

"Where hostility to the United States shall be so great and
so universal as to prevent competent resident citizens from holding
the Federal offices, there will be no attempt to force obnoxious
strangers among the people that object. While strict legal right
may exist of the government to enforce the exercise of these
offices, the attempt to do so would be so irritating, and so
nearly impracticable withal, that I deem it better to forego for
the time the uses of such offices.

"The mails, unless repelled, will continue to be furnished to
all parts of the Union.

" So far as possible, the people everywhere shall have that
sense of perfect security which is most favorable to calm thought
and reflection.

"The course here indicated will be followed, unless current
events and experience shall show a modification or change to be
proper; and in every case and exigency my best discretion will
be exercised according to the circumstances actually existing,
and with a view and hope of a peaceful solution of the national
troubles, and the restoration of fraternal sympathies and af-
fections.

" That there are persons, in one section or another, who seek
to destroy the Union at all events, and are glad of any pretext
to do it, I will neither affirm nor deny. But if there be such, I
need address no word to them.

" To those, however, who really love the Union, may I not
speak, before eutering upon so grave a matter as the destruc-

92 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN".

tion of our national fabric, with all its benefits, its memories,
and its hopes? Would it not be well to ascertain why we do
it? Will you hazard so desperate a step, while any portion of
the ills you fly from have no real existence? Will you, while
the certain ills you fly to, are greater than all the real ones you
fly from ? Will you risk the commission of so fearful a mistake ?
All profess to be content in the Union if all constitutional rights
can be maintained. Is it true, then, that any right, plainly writ-
ten in the Constitution, has been denied? I think not. Hap-
pily the human mind is so constituted, that no party can reach
to the audacity of doing this.

11 Think, if you can, of a single instance in which a plainly-
written provision of the Constitution has ever been denied. If, by
the mere force of numbers, a majority should deprive a minority
of any clearly-written constitutional right, it might, in a moral
point of view, justify revolution ; it certainly would, if such right
were a vital one. But such is not our case.

"All the vital rights of minorities and of individuals are so
plainly assured to them by affirmations and negations, guar-
antees and prohibitions in the Constitution, that controversies
never rise concerning them. But no organic law can ever be
framed with a provision specifically applicable to every question
which may occur in practical administration. No foresight can
anticipate, nor any document of reasonable length contain, ex-
press provisions for all possible questions. Shall fugitives from
labor be surrendered by national or by State authorities? The
Constitution does not expressly say. Must Congress protect
slavery in the territories? The Constitution does not expressly
say. From questions of this class spring all our constitutional
controversies, and we divide upon them into majorities and
minorities.

" If the minority will not acquiesce, the majority must, or the
government must cease. There is no alternative for continuing
the government but acquiescence on the one side or the other. If
a minority in such a case will secede rather than acquiesce, they
make a precedent which in turn will ruin and divide them, for a
minority of their own will secede from them whenever a ma-
jority refuses to be controlled by such a minority. For instance,
why not any portion of a new confederacy, a year or two hence,
arbitarily secede again, precisely as portious of the present
Union now claim to secede from it? All who cherish disunion
sentiments are now being educated to the exact temper of doing
this. Is there such perfect identity of interests among tho
States to compose a new Union as to produce harmony only,
and prevent renewed secession ? Plainly, the central idea of
secession is the essence of anarchy.

"A majority held in restraint by constitutional check and
limitations, and always changing easily with deliberate changes
of popular opinions and sentiments, is the only true sovereign of

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 93

a free people. Whoever reject it, does, of necessity, fly to an-
archy or to despotism. Unanimity is impossible; the rule of a
majority, as a permanent arrangement, is wholly inadmissible.

80 that, rejecting the majority principle, auarchy or despotism
in some form is all that is left.

" I do not forget the position assumed by some that constitu-
tional questions are to be decided by the Supreme Court, nor do
I deny that such decisions must be binding in any case upon the
parties to a suit, as to the object of that suit, while they are also
entitled to very high respect and consideration in all parallel
cases by all other departments of the government: and while it
is obviously possible that such decision may be erroneous in any
given case, still the evil effect following it, being limited to that
particular case, with the chance that it may be overruled and
never become a precedent for other cases, can better be borne
than could the evils of a different practice.

"At the same time, the candid citizen must confess that, if the
policy of the government upon the vital questions affecting the
whole people is to be irrevocably fixed by the decisions of the
Supreme Court, the instant they are made, as in ordinary litiga-
tion between parties in personal actions, the people will have
ceased to be their own masters, unless having to that extent
practically resigned their government into the hands of that
eminent tribunal.

"Nor is there in this view any assault upon the court or the
judges. It is a duty from which they may not shrink, to decide
cases properly brought before them ; and it is no fault of theirs
if others seek to turn their decisions to political purposes. One
section of our country believes slavery is right, and ought to be
extended, while the other believes it is wrong, and ought not to
be extended ; and this is the only substantial dispute ; and the
fugitive slave clause of the Constitution, aud the law for the
suppression of the foreign slave-trade, are each as well enforced,
perhaps, as any law can ever be in a community where the moral
sense of the people imperfectly supports the law itself. The
great body of the people abide by the dry legal obligation in
both cases, and a few break over in each. This, I think, cannot
be perfectly cured, and it would be worse, in both cases, after
the separation of the sections, than before. The foreign slave-
trade, now imperfectly suppressed, would be ultimately revived,
without restriction, iu one section ; while fugitive slaves, now
only partially surrendered, would not be surrendered at a'l by
the other.

" Physically speaking, we cannot separate — we cannot rtmove
our respective sections from each other, nor build an impassable
wall between them. A husband aud w.fe may be divorced, aud
go out of the presence and beyond the reach of the other, but
the different parts of our country cannot do that. They cannot
but remain lace to fa.ce; aud intercourse, either amicable or

94 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

hostile, must continue between them. Is it possible, then, to
make that intercourse more advantageous or more satisfactory
after separation than before ? Can aliens make treaties easier
than friends can make laws? Can treaties be more faithfully
enforced between aliens than laws can among friends? Suppose
you go to war, you cannot tight always; and when, after much
loss on both sides, and no gain on either, you cease fighting, the
identical questions as to terms of intercourse are again upun
you.

u This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who
iahabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing
government, they can exercise their constitutional right of
amending, or their revolutionary right to dismember or over-
throw it. I cannot be ignorant of the fact that many worthy
and patriotic citizens are desirous of having the national Con-
stitution amended. While I make no recommendation of amend-
ment, I fully recognize the full authority of the people over
the whole, subject, to be exercised in either of the modes pre-
scribed in the instrument itself, and I should, under existing
circumstances, favor, rather than oppose, a fair opportunity
being afforded the people to act upon it.

" I will venture to add that to me the convention mode seems
preferable, in that it allows amendments to originate with the
people themselves, instead of only permitting them to take or
reject propositions originated by others not especially chosen for
the purpose, and which might not be precisely such as they
would wish either to accept or refuse. I understand that a pro-
posed amendment to the Constitution (which amendment, how-
ever, I have not seen) has passed Congress, to the effect that
the Federal Government shall never interfere with the domestic
institutions of States, including that of persons held to service.
To avoid misconstruction of what I have said, I depart from my
purpose not to speak of particular amendments, so far as to say
that, holding such a provision to now be implied constitutional
law, I have no objections to its being made express and irrevo-
cable.

" The chief magistrate derives all his authority from the peo-
ple, and they have conferred none upon him to fix the terms for
the separation of the States. The people themselves, also, can
do this if they choose, but the Executive, as such, has nothing
to do with it. His duty is to administer the present government
as it came to his hands, and to transmit it, unimpaired by him,
to his successor. Why should there not be a patient confidence
in the ultimate justice of the people ? Is there any better or
equal hope in the world ? In our present differences, is either
party without faith of being in the right ? If the Almighty
Ruler of nations, with his eternal truth and justice, be ou your
Bide of the North, or ou yours of the South, that truth aud that
justice will surely prevail by the judgment of this great tribunal,

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 95

the American people. By the frame of the government under
which we live, this same people have wisely given their public
servants but little power for mischief, and have, with equal wis-
dom, provided for the return of that little to their own hands at
very short intervals. "While the people retain their virtue and
vigilance, no administration, by any extreme wickedness or
folly, can very seriously injure the government in the short space
of four years.

" My countrymen, one and all, think calmly and well upon
this whole subject. Nothing valuable can be lost by taking
time.

" If there be an object to hurry any of you, in hot haste, to
a step which you would never take deliberately, that object will
be frustrated by taking time ; but no good object can be frus-
trated by it.

" Such of you as are now dissatisfied still have the old Con-
stitution unimpaired, and, on the sensitive point, the laws of your
own framing under it; while the new administration will have
no immediate power, if it would, to change either.

" If it were admitted that you who are dissatisfied hold the
right side in the dispute, there is still no single reason for pre-
cipitate action. Intelligence, patriotism, Christianity, and a
firm reliance on Him who has never yet forsaken this favored
land, are still competent to adjust, in the best way, all our
present difficulties.

" In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in
mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The government
will not assail you.

" You can have no conflict without being yourselves the ag-
gressors. You have no oath registered in heaven to destroy
the government; while I shall have the most solemn one to
' preserve, protect, and defend it.'

" I am loth to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We
must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it
must not break our bonds of affection.

" The mystic cords of memory, stretching from every battle-
field and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all
over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union,
when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better augela
of our nature."

Chief Justice Taney then administered the oath of
office, and President Lincoln left the Capitol for the
"White House, where he held a public reception.

PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S INTERVIEW WITH
THE VIRGINIA COMMISSIONERS.

On the 13th of April, 1861, Messrs. Preston Stuart and
6

9ft LIFE AND SEEVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN".

Randolph, a committee appointed by the Virginia Con-
vention, were formally received by the President, and pre-
sented the resolutions under which they were appointed.
In response, Mr. Lincoln made the following address :

" Gentlemen : As a committee of the Virginia Convention,
now in session, you present me a preamble and resolution in
these words :

" ' Whereas, in the opinion of this Convention, the uncertainty
which prevails in the public mind as to the policy which the
Federal Executive intends to pursue towards the seceded States
is extremely injurious to the industrial and commercial interests
of the country, tends to keep up an excitement which is un-
favorable to the adjustment of the pending difficulties, and
threatens a disturbance of the public peace ; therefore,

11 'Besolved, That a committee of three delegates be appointed
to wait on the President of the United States, present to him
this preamble, and respectfully ask him to communicate to this
Convention the policy which the Federal Executive intends to
pursue in regard to the Confederate States.'

" In answer I have to say, that having, at the beginning of
my official term, expressed my intended policy as plainly as I
was able, it is with deep regret and mortification I now learn there
is great and injurious uncertainty in the public mind as to what
that policy is, and what course I intend to pursue. Not having
as yet seen occasion to change, it is now my purpose to pursue
the course marked out in the inaugural address. I commend a
careful consideration of the whole document as the best ex-
pression I can give to my purposes. As I then and therein said,
I now repeat, ' The power confided in me will be used to hold,
occupy, and possess property and places belonging to the Gov-
ernment, and to collect the duties and imports ; but beyond
what is necessary for these objects there will be no invasion, no
using of force against or among the people anywhere/ By the
words ' property and places belonging to the Government,' I
chiefly allude to the military posts and property which were in
possession of the government when it came into my hands.
But if, as now appears to be true, in pursuit of a purpose to
drive the United States authority from these places, an unpro-
voked assault has been made upon Fort Sumter, I shall hold
myself at liberty to repossess it, if I can, like places which had
been seized before the Government was devolved upon me, and
in any event I shall, to the best of my ability, repel force by
force. In case it proves true that Fort Sumter has been
assaulted, as is reported, I shall, perhaps, cause the United
States mails to be withdrawn from all the States which claim to
have seceded, believing that the commencement of actual war
against the Government justifies and possibly demands it. I

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 97

scarcely need to say that I consider the military posts and
property situated within the States which claim to have seceded,
as yet belonging to the Government of the United States as
much as they did before the supposed secession. Whatever
else I may do for the purpose, I shall not attempt to collect the
duties and imposts by any armed invasion of any part of the
country; not meaning by this, however, that I may not land a
force deemed necessary to relieve a fort upon the border of the
country. From the fact that I have quoted a part of the
inaugural address, it must not be inferred that I repudiate any
other part, the whole of which 1 reaffirm, except so far as what I
now say of the mails may be regarded as a modification."

Two days later the following proclamation was issued :

THE FIRST CALL FOR TROOPS.— CONGRESS
SUMMONED TO ASSEMBLE.

" Whereas, The laws of the United States have been for some
time past, and now are opposed, and the execution thereof ob-
structed, in the States of South Carolina. Georgia, Alabama,
Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, by combinations too
powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial pro-
ceedings, or by the powers vested in the marshals by law; now,
therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States,
in virtue of the power in me vested by the Constitution and the
laws, have thought fit to call forth, and hereby do call forth, the
militia of the several States of the Union to the aggregate num-
ber of 75.000. in order to suppress said combinations and to
cause the laws to be duly executed.

" The details for this object will be immediately communicated
to the State authorities through the War Department. I ap-
peal to all loyal citizens to favor, facilitate, and aid this effort
to maintain the honor, the integrity, and existence of our na-
tional Union, and the perpetuity of popular government, and to
redress wrongs already long enough endured. I deem it proper
to say that the first service assigned to the forces hereby called
forth, will probably be to repossess the forts, places, and property
which have been seized from the Union ; and in every event ths
utmost care will be observed, consistently with the objects alore-
said, to avoid any devastation, any destruction of, or interference
with property, or any disturbance of peaceful citizens of any
part of the country ; and I hereby command the persons com-
posing the combinations aforesaid, to disperse and retire peace-
ably to their respective abodes, within twenty days from this
date.

" Deeming that the present conditiou of public affairs presents
an extraordinary occasion, I do hereby, in virtue of the power
in me vested by the Constitution, convene both Houses of Con-

98 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM! LINCOLN.

gress. The Senators and Representatives are, therefore, sum-
moned to assemble at their respective chambers at twelve o'clock,
noon, on Thursday, the fourth day of July next, then and there
to consider and determine such measures as, in their wisdom> the
public safety and interest may seem to demand.

" In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused
the seal of the United States to be affixed.
" Done at the City of Washington, this fifteenth day of April, in
the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-
one, and of the independence of the United States the eighy-
fifth.

" By the President : "Abraham Lincoln.

" William H. Seward, Secretary of State."

Within three days after the appeal had been made to
the patriots of the North, six hundred of their Dumber
had arrived in Washington, prepared for active duty and
ready to sacrifice their lives in defence of the capital. The
avenues to the city of Washington were guarded night
and day, and cannon were placed in position. The excite-
ment was intense, but amid all the various apprehensions
of the residents and the country, he, who really should
have been more especially anxious and fearful, was always
calm and collected. The murderous outbreak in Balti-
more on the nineteenth onlv increased the excitement, but,

*/ 7 7

as if indifferent to the scenes which were in progress im-
mediately around him, the President issued the following
Proclamation, ordering a blockade of the Southern ports :

A BLOCKADE OF SOUTHERN PORTS ORDERED.

" 'Whereas, An insurrection against the Government of the
United States has broken out in the States of South Carolina,
Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas,
and the laws of the United States for the collection of the
revenue cannot be efficiently executed therein conformably to
that provision of the Constitution which requires duties to be
uniform throughout the United States.

"And whereas, A combination of persons, engaged in such
insurrection, have threatened to grant pretended letters of
marque to authorize the bearers thereof to commit assaults on
the lives, vessels, and property of good citizens of the country
lawfully engaged in commerce on the high seas, and in waters
of the United States.

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 99

"And whereas, An Executive Proclamation has been already
issued, requiring the persons engaged in these disorderly pro-
ceedings to desist therefrom, calling out a militia force for the
purpose of repressing the same, and convening Congress in ex-
traordinary session to deliberate and determine thereon. •

" Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of th3
United States, with a view to the same purpose before men-
tioned, acd to the protection of the public peace, and the
lives and property of quiet and orderly citizens pursuing theii
lawful occupations, until Congress shall have assembled and de-
liberated on the said unlawful proceedings, or until the same
shall have ceased, have further deemed it advisable to set on
foot a blockade of the ports within the States aforesaid, in pur-
suance of the laws of the United States and of the laws of nations
in such cases provided. For this purpose a competent force will
be posted so as to prevent entrance and exit of vessels from the
ports aforesaid. If, therefore, with a view to violate such block-
ade, a vessel shall approach, or shall attempt to leave any of the
said ports, she will be duly warned by the commander of oue of
the blockading vessels, who will indorse on her register the fact
and date of such warning ; and if the same vessel shall again
attempt to enter or leave the blockaded port, she will be cap
tured and sent to the nearest convenient port, for such proceed
ings against her and her cargo as prize as may be deemed ad
visable.

"And I hereby proclaim and declare, that if any person, un-
der the pretended authority of said States, or under any other
pretence, shall molest a vessel of the United States, or the
persons or cargo on board of her, such person will be held
amenable to the laws of the United States for the prevention
and punishment of piracy.

" By the President : "Abraham Lincoln.

"William H. Seward, Secretary of State.
"Washington, April 19th, 1861."

THE PRESIDENT'S COMMUNICATION WITH
THE MARYLAND AUTHORITIES.

On the twentieth of April, the President sent the follow-
ing letter to the Governor of Maryland and also to the
Mayor of Baltimore :

" Washington, April 20th, 1861.
" Governor Hicks and Mayor Brown :

"Gentlemen: — Your letter by Messrs. "Bond, Dobbin, and
Brune, is received. I tender you both my sincere thanks for
your efforts to keep the peace iu the trying situation in which
you are placed. For the future, troops must be brought here,
but I make no point of bringing them through Baltimore.

100 L-IFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

" "Without any military knowledge myself, of course I must
leave details to General Scott. He hastily said this morning,
in presence of those gentlemen, ' March them around Baltimore,
and not through it.'

"I sincerely hope the general, on fuller reflection, will con-
sider this practical and proper, and that you will not object to
A. By this a collision of the people of Baltimore with the
troops will be avoided, unless they go out of the way to seek it.
I hope you will exert your influence to prevent this. Now and
ever, I shall do all in my power for peace, consistently with the
maintenance of government

" Your obedient servant,

"A. Lincoln."

And on the twenty-first, he sent a despatch to Mayor
Brown, requesting him to proceed immediately to Wash-
ington, a request that was obeyed, and upon arriving at
the White House the invited guest was admitted to an
interview with the Cabinet and General Scott. The Presi-
dent informed the Mayor, and three of the citizens of Bal-
timore who had accompanied him, that he recognized the
good faith of the City and State authorities, but should
insist upon a recognition of his own.

He admitted the excited state of feeling in Baltimore,
and his desire and duty to avoid the fatal consequences
of a collision with the people. He urged, on the other
hand, the absolute, irresistible necessity of having a tran-
sit through the State for such troops as might be neces-
sary for the protection of the Federal capital. The pro-
tection of Washington, he asseverated with great earnest-
ness, was the sole object of concentrating troops there ;
and he protested that none of the troops brought through
Maryland were intended for any purports hostile to the
State, or aggressive as against the Southern States. Being
now unable to bring them up the Potomac in security, the
Government must either bring them through Maryland or
abandon the capital.

He called on General Scott for his opinion, which the
General gave at length, to the effect that troops might be

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 101

brought through Maryland, without going through Balti-
more, by either carrying them from Perry ville to Annapo-
lis, and thence by rail to Washington, or by bringing them
to the Relay House on the Northern Central railroad, and
marching them to the Relay House on the Washington
railroad, and thence by rail to the capital. If the people
would permit them to go by either of these routes uninter-
ruptedly, the necessity of their passing through Baltimore
would be avoided. If the people would not permit them
a transit thus remote from the city, they must select their
own best route, and, if need be, fight their way through
Baltimore, a result which the General earnestly depre-
cated.

The President expressed his hearty concurrence in the
desire to avoid a collision, and said that no more troops
should be ordered through Baltimore if they were per-
mitted to go uninterrupted by either of the other routes
suggested. In this disposition the Secretary of War ex-
pressed his participation.

About this same date a deputation of sympathizers
visited the President, and demanded a cessation of hostili-
ties until the convening of Congress, accompanying the
demand with the assertion that seventy-five thousand
Marylanders would contest the passage of troops over
their soil. Mr. Lincoln, in refusing to accede to the truce,
quietly replied that he presumed there was room enough
on her soil to bury seventy-five thousand men.

BLOCKADING OP VIRGINIA AND NORTH
CAROLINA.

On the twenty-seventh of April, the following additional
proclamation, extending the blockade, was issued :

11 Whereas, For the reasons assigned in my proclamation of
tne 19th instant, a blockade of the ports of the States of South
Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi,
and Texas, was ordered to be established ; And whereas, Since

102 life a:; o services of Abraham Lincoln.

that date public property of the United States has been seized,
the collection of the revenue obstructed, and duly commissioned
officers of the United States, while engaged in executing the
orders of their superiors, have been arrested and held in custody
as prisoners, or have been impeded in the discharge of their
official duties, without due legal process, by persons claiming to
act under authority of the States of Virginia and North Caro-
lina, an efficient blockade of the ports of these States will there-
fore also be established.

" In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused
the seal of the United States to be affixed.
11 Done at the City of Washington, this 27th day of April, in the
year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one,
and of the Independence of the United States the eighty-
fifth.

" By the President : "Abraham Lincoln.

"William H. Seward, Secretary of State."

Although the first call for troops had been responded to
in the most gratifying manner by the outraged citizens of
the free States, it was early ascertained that the number
asked was totally insufficient for the existing exigencies,
and on the third of May the following proclamation was
issued :

A CALL FOR ADDITIONAL TROOPS.

" Washington, Friday, May 3d, 1861.

"Whereas, Existing exigencies demand immediate and ade-
quate measures for the protection of the national Constitution
and the preservation of the national Union by the suppression
of the insurrectionary combinations now existing in several
States for opposing the laws of the Union and obstructing the
execution thereof, to which end a military force, in addition to
that called forth by my Proclamation of the fifteenth day of
April, in the present year, appears to be indispensably neces-
sary, now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the
United States, and Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy
thereof, and of the militia of the several States, when called into
actual service, do hereby call into the service of the United
States forty-two thousand and thirty-four volunteers, to serve
for a period of three years, unless sooner discharged, and tc be
mustered into service as infantry and cavalry. The proportions
of each arm and the details of enrolment and organization will
be made known through the Department cf War; and I also
direct that the regular army of the United States be iucreased
by the addition of eight regiments of infantry, one regiment ol

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM 1INC0LN. 1C3

cavalry, and one regiment of artillery, making altogether a
maximum aggregate increase of 22,714 officers and enlisted men,
the details of which increase will also be made known through
the Department of War ; and I further direct the enlistment,
for not less than one nor more than three years, of 18.000 sea-
men, in addition to the present force, for the naval service of
the United States. The details of the enlistment and organiza-
tion will be made known through the Department of the Navy.
The call for volunteers, hereby made, and the direction of the
increase of the regular army, and for the enlistment of seamen
hereby given, together with the plan of organization adopted for
the volunteers and for the regular forces hereby authorized, will
be submitted to Congress as soon as assembled.

"In the meantime, I earnestly invoke the co-operation of all
good citizens in the measures hereby adopted for the effectual
suppression of unlawful violence, for the impartial enforcement
of constitutional laws, and for the speediest possible restoration
of peace and order, and with those of happiness and prosperity
throughout our country.

"In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and
caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
" Done at the City of "Washington, this third day of May, in the
year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one,
and of the Independence of the United States the eighty-
fifth.

" By the President: "Abraham Lincoln.

"William H. Seward, Secretary of State."

AN INTERVIEW WITH THE MARYLAND
LEGISLATURE.

On the following day, the President had an interview
with a Committee of the Maryland Legislature, who ad-
mitted the right of the Government to transport troops
through Baltimore or Maryland, but expressed their belief
that no immediate efforts would be made by the State au-
thorities at secession or resistance, and asked that the
State might be spared military occupation, or a mere re-
vengeful chastisement for former transgressions. The
President, in reply, promised to give their suggestions a
respectful consideration, and stated that whatever meas-
ures might be adopted, would be actuated entirely by the
public interests and not by any spirit of revenge.

104: LIFE AXD SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

A SPECIAL ORDER FOR FLORIDA.

On the tenth of May, 1861, the following proclamation
was promulgated :

" Whereas, Au insurrection exists in the State of Florida, by
which the lives, liberty, and property of loyal citizens of the
United States are endangered.

"And whereas, It is deemed proper that all needful measures
should be taken for the protection of such citizens and all officers
of the United States in the discharge of their public duties ii
the State aforesaid.

" Now, therefore, be it known that I, Abraham Lincoln,
President of the United States, do hereby direct the Com-
mander of the forces of the United States on the Florida coast
to permit no person to exercise any office or authority upon the
Islauds of Key West, the Tortugas, and Santa Rosa, which
may be inconsistent with the laws and Constitution of the
United States, authorizing him at the same time, if he shall
find it necessary, to suspend there the writ of habeas corpus,
and to remove from the vicinity of the United States fortresses
all dangerous or suspected persons.

" In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused
the seal of the United States to be affixed.
" Done at the City of Washington, this tenth day of May, in the
year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one,
and of the Independence of the United States the eighty-
fifth.

"By the President : "Abraham Lincoln.

" William H. Seward, Secretary of State.'1

PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S FIRST MESSAGE TO

CONGRESS.

On the fourth of July, 1861, Congress assembled, in
pursuance to the call of the President, and received from
the Executive the following Message :

" Fellow-Citizens op the Senate and House of Represen-
tatives : — Having been convened on an extraordinary occasion,
as authorized by the Constitution, your attention is not called
to any ordinary subject of legislation. At the beginning of the
present Presidential term, four months ago, the functions of the
Federal Government were found to be generally suspended
within. the several States of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama,
Mississippi, Louisiana, and Florida, excepting only those of the
Post-Office Department.

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 105

" Within these States all the Forts, Arsenals, Dock-Yards,
Cnstom-Houses, and the like, including the movable and station-
ary property in and about them, had been seized, and were held
in open hostility to this Government, excepting only Forts
Pickens, Taylor, and Jefferson, on and near the Florida coast,
and Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor, South Carolina. The
forts thus seized had been put in improved condition, new ones
had been built, and armed forces had been organized, and were
organizing, all avowedly for the same hostile purpose.

" The forts remaining in possession of the Federal Govern-
ment in and near these States were either besieged or menaced
by warlike preparations, and especially Fort Sumter was nearly
surrounded by well-protected hostile batteries, with guns equal
in quality to the best of its own, and outnumbering the latter as,
perhaps, ten to one — a disproportionate share of the Federal
muskets and rifles had somehow found their way into these
States, and had been seized to be used against the Government.

" Accumulations of the public revenue lying within them had
been seized for the same object. The navy was scattered in
distant seas, leaving but a very small part of it within the imme-
diate reach of the Government.

" Officers of the Federal army had resigned in great numbers,
and of those resigning a large proportion had taken up arms
Against the Government.

" Simultaneously, and in connection with all this, the purpose
to sever the Federal Union was openly avowed. In accordance
with this purpose an ordinance had been adopted in each of these
States, declaring the States respectively to be separated from
the National Union. A formula for instituting a combined
Government of these States had been promulgated, and this
illegal organization, in the character of the ' Confederate States,'
was already invoking recognition, aid, and intervention from
foreign Powers.

" Finding this condition of things, and believing it to be an
imperative duty upon the incoming Executive to prevent, if pos-
sible, the consummation of such attempt to destroy the Federal
Union, a choice of means to that end became indispensable.
This choice was made and was declared in the Inaugural
Address.

"The policy chosen looked to the exhaustion of all peaceful
measures before a resort to any stronger ones. It sought only
to hold the public places and property not already wrested from
the Government, and to collect the revenue, relying for the rest
on time, discussion, and the ballot-box. It promised a contin-
uance of the mails, at Government expense, to the very people
who were resisting the Government, and it gave repeated pledges
against any disturbances to any of the people, or any of their
rights, of all that which a President might constitutionally and
justifiably do in such a case ; every thing was forborne, without
Which it was believed possible to keep the Government on foot.

106 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN-.

" On the 5th of March, the present incumbent's first full day
in office, a letter from Major Anderson, commanding at Fort
Sumter, written on the 28th of February and received at the
War Department on the 4th of March, was by that Department
placed in his hands. " This letter expressed the professional
opinion of the writer, that reinforcements could not be thrown
into that fort within the time for its relief rendered necessary by
the limited supply of provisions, and with a view of holding pos-
session of the same, with a force less than 20,000 good and well-
disciplined men. This opinion was concurred in by all the
officers of his command, and their memoranda O'l the subject
were made inclosures of Major Anderson's letter. The whole
was immediately laid before Lieutenant-Geueral Scott, who at
once concurred with Major Anderson in his opinion. On re-
flection, however, he took full time, consulting with other officers
both of the army and uavy, and at the end of four days came
reluctantly but decidedly to the same conclusion as before. He
also stated at the same time that no such sufficient force was
then at the control of the Government, or could be raised and
brought to the ground, within the time when the provisions in
the fort would be exhausted. In a purely military poiut of view,
this reduced the duty of the Administration in the case to the
mere matter of getting the garrison safely out of the fort.

" It was believed, however, that to so abandon that position,
under the circumstances, would be utterly ruinous ; that the
necessity under which it was to be done would not be fully un-
derstood ; that by many it would be construed as a part of a
voluntary policy ; that at home it would discourage the friends
of the Union, embolden its adversaries, aud go far to insure to
the latter a recognition abroad ; that, in fact, it would be our
national destruction consummated. This could not be allowed.
Starvation was not yet upon the garrison, and ere it would be
reached, Fort Pickens might be reinforced. This last would
be a clear indication of policy, and would better enable the
country to accept the evacuation of Fort Sumter as a military
necessity. An order was at once directed to be sent for the
landing of the troops from the steamship Brooklyn into Fort
Pickens. This order could not go by laud, but must take the
longer and slower route by sea. The first return news from the
order was received just one week before the fall of Sumter. The
news itself was that the officer commanding the Sabine, to which
vessel the troops had been transferred from the Brooklyn, acting
upon some quasi armistice of the late Administration, and of
the existence of which the present Administration, up to the
time the order was despatched, had only too vague and uncertain
rumors to fix attention, had refused to land the troops. To now
reinforce Fort Pickens before a crisis would be reached at
Fort Sumter was impossible, rendered so by the near exhaustion
of provisions at the latter named fort. In precaution against

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 107

Buch a conjuncture the Government had a few days before com-
menced preparing an expedition, as well adapted as might be, to
relieve Fort Sumter, which expedition was intended to be ulti-
mately used or not, according to circumstances. The strongest
anticipated case for using it was now presented, and it was re-
solved to send it forward as had been intended. In this contin-
gency it was also resolved to notify the Governor of South Caro-
lina that he might expect an attempt would be made to pro-
vision the fort, and that if the attempt should not be resisted,
there would be no attempt to throw in men, arms, or ammu-
nition, without further notice or in case of an attack upon the
fort. This notice was accordingly given, whereupon the fort
was attacked and bombarded to its fall, without even awaiting
the arrival of the provisioning expedition.

" It is thus seen that the assault upon, and reduction of Fort
Sumter, was, in no sense, a matter of self-defence on the part
of the assailants. They well knew that the garrison in the fort
could by no possibility commit aggression upon them ; they
knew they were expressly notified that the giving of bread to tho
few brave and hungry men of the garrison was all which would
on that occasion be attempted, unless themselves, by resisting
so much, should provoke more. They knew that this Govern-
ment desired to keep the garrison in the fort, not to assail
them, but merely to maintain visible possession, and thus to pre-
serve the Union from actual and immediate dissolution ; trust-
ing, as hereinbefore stated, to time, discussion, and the ballot-
box for final adjustment, and they assailed and reduced the fort,
for precisely the reverse object, to drive out the visible authority
of the Federal Union, and thus force it to immediate dissolution ;
that this was their object the Executive well understood, having
said to them in the Inaugural Address, ' you can have no con-
flict without being yourselves the aggressors.' He took pains
not only to keep this declaration good, but also to keep the case
so far from ingenious sophistry as that the world should not
misunderstand it. By the affair at Fort Sumter, with its sur-
rounding circumstances, that point was reached. Then and
thereby the assailants of the Government began the conflict of
arms, — without a gun in sight or in expectancy to return then
fire, save only the few in the fort sent to that harbor yeaia
before, for their own protection, and still ready to give that pro-
tection in whatever was lawful. In this act, discarding all else,
they have forced upon the couutry the distinct issue, immediate
dissolution or blood, and this issue embraces more than the fate
of these United States. It presents to the whole family of
man the question whether a Constitutional Republic or De-
mocracy, a Government of the people, by the same people, can
or cannot maintain its territorial integrity against its own
domestic foes. It presents the question whether discontented
individuals, too few iu numbers to control the Administration

10S LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

according to the organic law in any case, can always, upon
the pretences made in this case, or any other pretences
or arbitrarily without any pretence, break up their Govern-
ment, and thus practically put an end to free government
upon the earth. It forces us to ask, ' Is there in all republics
this inherent and fatal weakness ?' Must a Government of
necessity be too strong for the liberties of its own people, or too
weak to maintain its own existence? So viewing the issue, no
choice was left but to call out the war power of the Government,
and so to resist the force employed for its destruction by force
for its preservation. The call was made, and the response of
the country was most gratifying, surpassing, in unanimity and
spirit, the most sanguine expectation. Yet none of the States,
commonly called slave States, except Delaware, gave a regi-
ment through the regular State organization. A few regiments
have been organized within some others of those States by
individual enterprise, and received into the Government service.
Of course the seceded States, so called, and to which Texas
had been joined about the time of the inauguration, gave no
troops to the cause of the Union. The Border States, so called,
were not uniform in their action, some of them being almost for
the Union, while in others as in Virginia, North Carolina,
Tennessee, and Arkansas, the Union sentiment was nearly
repressed and silenced. The course taken in Virginia was the
most remarkable, perhaps the most important. A convention,
elected by the people of that State to consider this very ques-
tion of disrupting the Federal Union, was in session at the
capital of Virginia when Fort Sumter fell.

" To this body the people had chosen a large majority of pro-
fessed Union men. Almost immediately after the fall of Sum-
ter many members of that majority went over to the original
disunion minority, and with thnn adopted an ordinance for with-
drawing the State from the Union. Whether this change was
wrought by their great approval of the assault upon Sumter, or
their great resentment at the Government's resistance to that
assault, is not definitely known. Although they submitted the
ordinance for ratification to a vote of the people, to be taken on
a day then somewhat more than a month distant, the Conven-
tion and the Legislature, which was also in session at thy same
time and place, with leading men of the State, not members
of either, immediately commenced acting as if the State was
already out of the Union. They pushed military preparations
vigorously forward all over the State. They seised the United
States Armory at Harper's Ferry, and the Navy-Yard at Gos-
port, near Norfolk. They received, perhaps invited into their
State large bodies of troops, with their warlike appointments,
from the so-called seceded States.

"They formally entered into a treaty of temporary alliance
with the so-called Confederate States, and sent members to their

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 109

Congress at Montgomery, and finally they permitted the insur-
rectionary Government to be transferred to their eapitol at
Richmond. The people of Virginia have thus allowed this
giant insurrection to make its nest within her borders, and this
Government has no choice left but to deal with it where it finds
it, and it has the less to regret as the loyal citizens have in due
form claimed its protection. Those loyal citizens this Govern-
ment is bound to recognize and protect as being in Virginia.
In the Border States, so called, in fact the middle States, there
are those who favor a policy which they call armed neutrality,
that is, an arming of those States to prevent the Union forces
passing one way or the disunion forces the other over their soil.
This would be disunion completed. Figuratively speaking, it
would be the building of an impassable wall along the line of
separation, and yet not quite an impassable one, for under the
guise of neutrality it would tie the hands of the Union men, and
freely pass supplies from among them to the insurrectionists,
which it could not do as an open enemy. At a stroke it would
take all the trouble off the hands of secession, except only
what proceeds from the external blockade. It would do for the
disuuionists that which of all things they most desire, feed them
well and give them disunion without a struggle of their own.
It recognizes no fidelity to the Constitution, no obligation to
maintain the Union, and while very many who have favored it
are doubtless loyal citizens, it is nevertheless very injurious in
effect.

" Recurring to the action of the Government it may be stated
that at first a call was made for 75,000 militia, and rapidly
following this a proclamation was issued for closing the ports
of the insurrectionary districts by proceedings in the nature
of a blockade. So far all was believed to be strictly legal.

"At this point the insurrectionists announced their purpose
to enter upon the practice of privateering.

" Other calls were made for volunteers, to serve three years, un-
less sooner discharged, and also for large additions to the regular
army and navy. These measures, whether strictly legal or not.
were ventured upon under what appeared to be a popular demand
and a public necessity, trusting then, as now, that Congress
would ratify them.

" It is believed that nothing has been done beyond the con-
stitutional competency of Congress. Soon after the first call
for militia it was considered a duty to authorize the commanding
general, in proper cases, according to his discretion, to suspend
the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus ; or, in other words,
to arrest and detain, without resort to the ordinary processes
and forms of law, such individuals as he might deem dangerous
to the public safety. This authority has purposely been exer-
cised but very sparingly. Nevertheless the legality and pro-
priety of what has been done under it are questioned, and the

L10 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

attention of the country has been called to the proposition that
one who is sworn to take care that the laws be faithfully exe-
cuted, should not himself violate them. Of course some
consideration was given to the questions of power and propriety
before this matter was acted upon. The whole of the laws
which were required to be faithfully executed were being resisted,
and failing of execution in nearly one-third of the States.
Must they be allowed to finally fail of execution, even had it
been perfectly clear that by use of the means necessary to their
execution, some single law, made in such extreme tenderness of
the citizen's liberty that practically it relieves more of the
guilty than the innocent, should to a very great extent be
violated ? To state the question more directly, are all the laws
but one to go unexecuted, and the Government itself to go to
pieces lest that one be violated ? Even in such a case would
not the official oath be broken if the Government should be
overthrown when it was believed that disregarding the single law
would tend to preserve it.

" But it was not believed that this question was presented.
It was not believed that any law was violated. The provision
of the Constitution, that the privilege of the writ of habeas
corpus shall not be suspended, unless when, iu cases of rebel-
lion or invasion, the public safety may require it, is equivalent to
a provision that such privilege may be suspended when, in cases
of rebellion or invasion, the public safety does require it. It
was decided that we have a case of rebellion, and that the
public safety does require the qualified suspension of the
privilege of the writ, which was authorized to be made. Now,
it is insisted that Congress, and not the Executive, is vested
with this power. But the Constitution itself is silent as
to which or who is to exercise the power ; and as the provision
was plainly made for a dangerous emergency, it cannot be
believed that the framers of the instrument intended that in
every case the danger should run its course until Congress could
be called together, the very assembling of which might be pre-
vented, as was intended in this case by the rebellion. No more
extended argument is now afforded, as an opinion at some
length will probably be presented by the Attorney-General.
Whether there shall be any legislation on the subject, and if so
what, is submitted entirely to the better judgment of Congress.
The forbearance of this Government had been so extraordinary,
and so long continued, as to lead some foreign nations to shape
their action as if they supposed the early destruction of our
national Union was probable. While this, on discovery, gave
the Executive some concern, he is now happy to say that the
sovereignty and rights of the United States are now everywhere
practically respected by foreign Powers, and a general sympathy
with the country is manifested throughout the world.

" The reports of the Secretaries of the Treasury, War, and

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. Ill

the Navy, will give the information in detail deemed necessary
and convenient for your deliberation and action, while the Ex-
ecutive and all • the departments will stand ready to supply
omissions or to communicate new facts considered important for
you to know.

" It is now recommended that you give the legal means for
making this contest a short and decisive one ; that you place at
the control of the Government for the work at least 400,000
men and $400,000,000 ; that number of men is about one-tenth
of those of proper ages within the regions where apparently all
are willing to engage, and the sum is less than a twenty-third
part of the money value owned by the men who seem ready to
devote the whole. A debt of $600,000,000 now is a less sum
per head than was the debt of our Revolution when we came
out of that struggle, and the money value in the country bears
even a greater proportion to what it was then than does the
population. Surely each man has as strong a motive now to
preserve our liberties as each had then to establish them.

"A right result at this time will be worth more to the world
than ten times the men and ten times the money. The evidence
reaching us from the country leaves no doubt that the material
for the work is abundant, and that it needs only the hand of
legislation to give it legal sanction, and the hand of the Execu-
tive to give it practical shape and efficiency. One of the greatest
perplexities of the Government is to avoid receiving troops
faster than it can provide for them ; in a Avord, the people will
save their Government if the Government will do its part only
indifferently well. It might seem at first thought to be of little
difference whether the present movement at the South be called
secession or rebellion. The movers, however, well understand
the difference. At the beginning they knew that they could
never raise their treason to any respectable magnitude by any
name which implies violation of law ; they knew their people
possessed as much of moral sense, as much of devotion to law
and order, and as much pride in its reverence for the history and
Government of their common country, as any other civilized
and patriotic people. They knew they could make no advance-
ment directly in the teeth of these strong and noble sentiments.
Accordingly they commenced by an insidious debauching of the
Dublic mind ; they invented an ingenious sophism, which, if con-
ceded, was followed by perfectly logical steps through all the
incidents of the complete destruction of the Union. The
sophism itself is that any State of the Union may, consistently
with the nation's Constitution, and therefore lawfully and peace
fully, withdraw from the. Union without the consent of the
Union or of any other State.

" The little disguise that the supposed right is to be exercised
only for just cause, themselves to be the sole judge of its justice,
is too thin to merit any notice with rebellion. Thus sugar-
7

112 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

coated, they have been drugging the public mind of their section
for more than thirty years, and until at length they have brought
many good men to a willingness to take up arms against the
Government the day after some assemblage of men have euacted
the farcical pretence of taking their State out of the Union, who
could have been brought to no such thing the day before. This
sophism derives much, perhaps the whole of its currency, from
the assumption that there is some omnipotent and sacred su-
premacy pertaining to a State, to each State of our Federal
Union. Our States have neither more nor less power than that
reserved to them in the Union by the Constitution, no one of
them ever having been a State out of the Union. The original
ones passed into the Union before they cast off their British
Colonial dependence, and the new ones came into the Uuion
directly from a condition of dependence, excepting Texas, and
even Texas, in its temporary independence, was never designated
as a State. The new ones only took the designation of States
on coming into the Union, while that name was first adopted
for the old ones in and by the Declaration of Independence.
Therein the United Colonies were declared to be free and inde-
pendent States. But even then the object plainly was not to
declare their independence of one another of the Union, but di-
rectly the contrary, as their mutual pledge and their mutual ac-
tion before, at the time, and afterward, abundantly show. The
express plight of faith by each and all of the original thirteen
States in the Articles of Confederation two years later that the
Union shall be perpetuated, is most conclusive. Having never
been States either in substance or in name outside of the Union,
whence this magical omnipotence of State rights, asserting a
claim of power to lawfully destroy the Union itself. Much is
said about the sovereignty of the States, but the word even is
not in the National Constitution, nor, as is believed, in any of
the State constitutions. What is sovereignty in the political
sense of the word ? Would it be far wrong to define it a politi-
cal community without a political superior? Tested by this, no
one of our States, except Texas, was a sovereignty, and even
Texas gave up the character on coming into the Union, by
which act she acknowledged the Constitution of the United
States ; and the laws and treaties of the United States, made in
pursuauce of States, have their status in the Union, made in
pursuance of the Constitution, to be for her the supreme law.
The States have their status in the Union, and they have no
other legal status. If they break from this, they can only do so
against law and by revolution. The Uniou, and not themselves
separately, procured their independence and their liberty by con-
quest or purchase. The Union gave each of them whatever of
independence and liberty it has. The Union is older than any
of the States, and, in fact, it created them, as States. Origi-
nally, some dependent Colonies made the Union, and in turn the

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 113

Union threw off their old dependence for them and made them
States, such as they are. Not one of them ever had a State
constitution independent of the Union. Of course it is not for-
gotten that all the new States formed their constitutions before
they entered the Union ; nevertheless, depeudent upon, and pre-
paratory to coming into the Union. Unquestionably, the States
have the powers and rights reserved to them in and by the Na-
tional Constitution.

" But among these surely are not included all conceivable
powers, however mischievous or destructive, but at most such
only as were known in the world at the time as governmental
powers, and certainly a power to destroy the Government itself
had never been known as a governmental, as a merely adminis-
trative power. This relative matter of national power and State
rights as a principle, is no other than the principle of generality
and locality. "Whatever concerns the whole should be conferred
to the whole General Government, while whatever concerns only
the State should be left exclusively to the State. This is all
there is of original principle about it. "Whether the National
Constitution, in denning boundaries between the two, has ap-
plied the principle with exact accuracy, is not to be questioned.
We are all bound by that defining without question. What is
now combated, is the position that secession is consistent with
the Constitution, is lawful and peaceful. It is not contended
that there is any express law for it, and nothing should ever be
implied as law which leads to unjust or absurd consequences.
The nation purchased with money the countries out of which
several of those States were formed. Is it just that they shall
go off without leave and without refunding? The nation paid
very large sums in the aggregate, I believe nearly a hundred
millions, to relieve Florida of the aboriginal tribes. Is it just
that she shall now be off without consent or without any return ?
The nation is now in debt for money applied to the benefit of
these so-called seceding States, in common with the rest. Is it
just, either that creditors shall go unpaid, or the remaining
States pay the whole ? A part of the present national debt was
contracted to pay the old debt of Texas. Is it just that she
shall leave and pay no part of this herself? Again, if one State
may secede so may another, and when all shall have seceded
none is left to pay the debts. Is this quite just to creditors ?
Did we notify them of this sage view of ours when we borrowed
their money ? If we now recognize this doctrine by allowing the
seceders to go in peace, it is difficult to see what we can do if
others choose to go, or to extort terms upon which they will
promise to remain. The seceders insist that our Constitution
admits of secession. They have assumed to make a National
Constitution of their own, in which, of necessity, they have either
discarded' or retained the right of secession, as they insist exists
in ours. If they have discarded it, they thereby admit that on

114 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN".

principle it ought not lo exist in ours ; if they have retained it,
by their own construction of ours that shows that to be consist-
ent, they must secede from one another whenever they shall find
it the easiest way of settling their debts, or effecting any other sel-
fish or unjust object. The principle itself is one of disintegra-
tion, and upon which no Government can possibly endure. If
all the States save one should assert the power to drive that one
out of the Union, it is presumed the whole class of seceder poli-
ticians would at once deny the power, and denounce the act as
the greatest outrage upon State rights. But. suppose that pre-
cisely the same act, instead of being called driving the one out,
should be called the seceding of the others from that one, it
would be exactly what the seceders claim to do, unless, indeed,
they made the point that the one, because it is a minority, may
rightfully do what the others, because they are a majority, may
not rightfully do. These politicians are subtle, and profound in
the rights of minorities. They are not partial to that power
which made the Constitution, and speaks from the preamble,
calling itself, ' We, the people.' Jt may be well questioned
whether there is to-day a majority of the legally-qualified voters
of any State, except, perhaps, South Carolina, in favor of dis-
union. There is much reason to believe that the Union men are
the majority in many, if not in every one of the so-called seceded
States. The contrary has not been demonstrated in any one of
them. It is ventured to affirm this, even of Virginia and Ten-
nessee, for the result of an election held in military camps, where
the bayonets are all on one side of the question voted upon, can
scarcely be considered as demonstrating popular sentiment. At
such an election all that large class who are at once for the
Union and against coercion, would be coerced to vote against
the Union. It may be affirmed, without extravagance, that the
free institutions we enjoy have developed the powers and im-
proved the condition of our whole people beyond any example
in the world. Of this we now have a striking and impressive
illustration. So large an army as the Government has now on
foot was never before known, without a soldier in it but who has
taken his place there of his own free choice. But more than
this, there are many single regiments whose members, one and
another, possess full practical knowledge of all the arts, sciences,
professions, and whatever else, whether useful or elegant, is
known in the whole world, and there is scarcely one from which
there could not be selected a President, a Cabinet, a Congress,
and perhaps a Court, abundantly competent to administer the
Government itself. Nor do I say this is not true also in the
army of our late friends, now adversaries, in this contest. But
it is so much better the reason why the Government whieh has
conferred such benefits on both them and us should not be broken
up. Whoever in any section proposes to abandon such a Gov-
ernment, would do well t3 consider in deference to what prin

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 115

ciple it is that he does it. What better he is likely to get in
its stead, whether the substitute will give, or be intended to
give so much of good to the people. There are some fore-
shadowings on this subject. Our adversaries have adopted some
declarations of independence in which, unlike the good old one
penned by Jefferson, they omit the words, 'all men are created
equal.' Why? They have adopted a temporary ^National Con-
stitution, in the preamble of which, uulike our good old oua
signed by Washington, they omit ' We the people,' and substi-
tute ' We. the deputies of the sovereign and independent .States.'
Why? Why this deliberate pressing out of view the rights of
men and the authority of the people ? This is essentially a peo-
ple's contest. On the side of the Union it is a struggle for
maintaining in the world that form and substance of Government
whose leading object is to elevate the condition of men, to lift
artificial weights from all shoulders, to clear the paths of laud-
able pursuit for all. to afford all an unfettered start and a fair
chance in the race of life, yielding to partial and temporary de-
partures from necessity. This is the leading object of the Gov-
ernment, for whose existence we contend.

" I am most happy to believe that the plain people understand
and appreciate this. It is worthy of note that while in this, the
Government's hour of trial, large numbers of those in the army
and navy who have been favored with the offices, have resigned
aud proved false to the hand which pampered them, not one
common soldier or common sailor is known to have deserted his
flag. Great honor is due to those officers who remained true
despite the example of their treacherous associates, but the
greatest honor and the most important fact of all, is the unani-
mous firmness of the common soldiers and common sailers. To
the last man, so far as known, they have successfully resisted
the traitorous efforts of those whose commands but an hour be-
fore they obeyed as absolute law. This is the patriotic instinct
of plain people. They understand without an argument that the
destroying the Government which was made, by Washington
means no good to them. Our popular Government has often
been called an experiment. Two points in it our people have
settled : the successful establishing aud the sncces.-d'ul adminis-
tering of it. One still remains. Its successful maintenance
against a formidable iuternal attempt to overthrow it. It is now
for them to demonstrate to the world that those who can fairly
carry an election can also suppress a rebellion ; that ballots aic
the rightful and peaceful successors of bullets, and that when
ballots have fairly and constitutionally decided, there can be no
successful appeal back to bullets ; that there can be no success-
ful appeal except to ballots themselves at succeeding elections.
Such will be a great lesson of peace, teaching men that what
they cannot take by an election, neither can they take by a war,
teaching all the folly of being the beginners of a war.

" Lest there be some uneasiness in the miuda of caudid men

116 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

as to what is to be the course of the government toward the
Southern States after the rebellion shall have been suppressed,
the Executive deems it proper to say it will be his purpose, then,
as ever, to be guided by the Constitution and the laws, and that
he probably will have no different understanding of the powers
and duties of the Federal Government relatively to the rights
of the States and the people under the Constitution than that
expressed in the inaugural address. He desires to preserve the
government, that it may be administered for all, as it was ad-
ministered by the men who made it. Loyal citizens everywhere
have the right to claim this of their government, and the gov-
ernment has no right to withhold or neglect it. It is not per-
ceived that, in giving it, there is any coercion, any conquest, or
any subjugation in any sense of these terms.

" The Constitution provided, and all the States have accepted
the provision, ' that the United States shall guarantee to every
State in this Union a Republican form of government ;' but if a
State may lawfully go out of the Union, having done so, it may
also discard the Republican form of government. So that to
prevent its going out is an indispensable means to the end of
maintaining the guarantee mentioned ; and, when an end is law-
ful and obligatory, the indispensable means to it are also lawful
and obligatory.

" It was with the deepest regret that the Executive found the
duty of employing the war power forced upon him. In defence
of the government he could but perform this duty or surrender
the existence of the government. No compromise by public
servants could, in this case, be a cure ; not that compromises are
not often proper, but that no popular government can long sur-
vive a marked precedent, that those who carry au election can
only save the government from immediate destruction by giving
up the main point upon which the people gave the election.
The people themselves and not their servauts can safely reverse
their own deliberate decisions.

"As a private citizen, the Executive could not have consented
that these institutions shall perish, much less could he in be-
trayal of so vast and so sacred a trust as these free people had
confided to him. He felt that he had no moral right to shrink,
nor even to count the chances of his own life in what might
follow.

'"In full view of his great responsibility, he has so far done what
he has deemed his duty. You will now, according to your own
judgment, perform yours. He sincerely hopes that your views
and your actions may so accord with his as to assure all faith-
ful citizens who have been disturbed in their rights of a cer-
tain and speedy restoration to them under the Constitution and
laws ; and, having thus chosen our cause without guile, and
with pure purpose, let us renew our trust in God, and go for-
ward without fear and with manly hearts.

11 Abraham Lincoln."

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 117

A DAY OP FASTING AND PRAYER AP-
POINTED.

On the twelfth of August, the following proclamation,
appointing a day of fasting and prayer, was issued :

" Whereas, A joint committee of both Houses of Congress
has waited on the President of the United States, and requested
him to ' recommend a day of public humiliation, prayer, and fast-
ing, to be observed by the people of the United States with reli-
gious solemnities, and the offering of fervent supplications to
Almighty God for the safety and welfare of these States, His
blessings on their arms, and a speedy restoration of peace.'

"And whereas, It is fit and becoming in all people, at all
times, to acknowledge and revere the Supreme Government of
God ; to bow in humble submission to his chastisements ; to
confess and deplore their sins and transgressions, in the full con-
viction that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and
to pray, with all fervency and contrition, for the pardon of their
past offenoes, and for a blessing upon their present and prospec-
tive action.

"And ivhereas, "When our own beloved country, once, by the
blessing of God, united, prosperous, and happy, is now afflicted
with faction and civil war, it is peculiarly fit for us to recognize
the hand of God in this terrible visitation, and, in sorrowful re-
membrance of our own faults and crimes as a nation, and as in-
dividuals, to humble ourselves before Him, and to pray for His
mercy — to pray that we may be spared further punishment,
though most justly deserved ; that our arms may be blessed and
made effectual for the re-establishment of law, order, and peace
throughout the wide extent of our country; and that the inesti-
mable boon of civil and religious liberty, earned under His
guidance and blessing by the labors and sufferings of our fathers,
may be restored in all its original excellence;

"Therefore I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United
States, do appoint the last Thursday in September next as a
day of humiliation, prayer and fasting for all the people of the
nation. And I do earnestly recommend to all the people, and
especially to all ministers and teachers of religion, of all denomi-
nations, and to all heads of families, to observe and keep that
day, according to their several creeds and modes of worship, in
ail humility, and with all religious solemnity, to the end that the
united prayer of the nation may ascend to the Throne of Grace,
and bring down plentiful blessings upon our country.

"In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and
caused the seal of the United States to be affixed, this
[l. s.] 12th day of August, a. d. 1861, and of the Independ-
ence of the United States of America the eighty-sixth.

'By the President: "Abraham Llncoln.

"William H. Seward, Secretary of State."

118 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN".

COMMERCIAL INTERCOURSE WITH THE RE-
BELLIOUS STATES PROHIBITED.

Four days later be also promulgated the following :

"Whereas, On the loth, day of April, the President of the
United States, in view of an insurrection against the laws, Con-
stitution, and Government of the United States, which had
broken out within the States of South Carolina, Georgia, Ala-
bama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, and in pursu-
ance of the provisions of the act entitled an act to provide For
calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the Union, sup-
press insurrections, and repel invasions, and to repeal the act
now in force for that purpose, approved February 28th, 1795,
did call forth the militia to suppress said insurrection and causo
the laws of the Union to be duly executed — and the insurgents
have failed to disperse by the time directed by the President;
and whereas, such insurrection has since broken out and yet
exists within the States of Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee,
and Arkansas ; and whereas, the insurgents in all the said
States claim to act under authority thereof, and such claim is
not disclaimed or«repudiated by the persons exercising the func-
tions of government in such State or States, or in the part or
parts thereof, in which such combinations exist, nor has such
insurrection been suppressed by said States.

M Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the
United States, in pursuance of the act of Congress approved
July 13th, 18G1, do hereby declare that the inhabitants of the
said States of Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama,
Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Florida, except the
inhabitants of that part of the State of Virginia lying west of
the Alleghany Mountains, and of such other parts of that State
and the other States hereinbefore named as may maintain a loyal
adhesion to the Union and the Constitution, or may be, from
time to time occupied and controlled by the forces of the
Uuited States engaged in the dispersion of said insurgents, as
are in a state of insurrection against the United States, ani that
all commercial intercourse between the same and the inhabi-
tants thereof, with the exception aforesaid, and the citizens of
other States and olhcr parts of the United States, is unlawful
and will remain unlawful until such insurrection shall cease or
has been suppressed ; that all goods and chattels, wares and
merchandize, coming from any of the said States, with the ex-
ceptions aforesaid, into other parts of the United States, without
the special license and permission of the President, through the
Secretary of the Treasury, or proceeding to any of the said
States, with the exception aforesaid, by land or water, together
with the vessel or vehicle conveying the same ur conveying per-

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 119

sons to and from the said State?, with the said exceptions, -will
be forfeited to the United States; and that, from and after fif-
teen days from the issuing of this proclamation, all ships and
vessels belonging, in whole or in part, to any citizen or inhabi-
tant of any of the said States, with the said exceptions, found at
sea in any part of the United States, will be forfeited to the
United States ; and I hereby enjoiu upon all district attorneys,
marshals, and officers of the revenue of the military and naval
forces of the United States to be vigilant in the execution of the
paid act, and in the enforcement of the penalties and forfeitures
imposed or declared by it, leaving any party who may think him-
self aggrieved thereby to his application to the Secretary of the
Treasury for the remission of any penalty or forfeiture, which
the said Secretary is authorized by law to grant if, in his judg-
ment, the special circumstances of any case shall require such
a remission.

" In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused
the seal of the United States to be affixed.

" Done in the city of Washington, this, the lGth day of Au-
gust, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and
sixty-one, and of the Independence of the United States of
America the eighty-sixth.

" By the President : "Abraham Lincoln.

" William H. Seward."

HE MODIFIES AN ORDER OF GENERAL FRE-
MONT.

In the latter part of August, General Fremont declared
martial law throughout the State of Missouri, and at the
same time ordered that the property of all persons within
the limits of his Department who had been disloyal, should
be confiscated, and their slaves declared free men, but the
President promptly issued an order modifying that clause
of the proclamation in relation to the confiscation of prop-
erty and the liberation of slaves, so as to conform with,
and not transcend the provisions on the same subject con-
tained in the Act of Congress approved August Gth, 1861.

HIS SECOND MESSAGE TO CONGRESS.

On the 3d of December, 1861, Congress having convened
on the preceding day, the President sent in his Message, a
document which was eminently conservative and which

120 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

was received with great satisfaction by the loyal men of
the country. No 'general scheme of emancipation was
urged, and in alluding to the policy to be adopted to en-
sure the suppression of the rebellion, he stated that he
had been anxious and careful that the inevitable conflict
necessary for that purpose should not degenerate into a
violent and remorseless revolutionary struggle. " I have,
therefore," he continued, " in every case, thought it proper
to keep the integrity of the Union prominent as the pri-
mary object of the contest on our part, leaving all ques-
tions which are not of vital military importance to the
more deliberate action of the Legislature."

There can never be any difficulty in ascertaining Mr.
Lincoln's views upon the exciting and absorbing topics of
the day. His messages, proclamations, and correspond-
ence all evince the same spirit of independence and deter-
mination, while his language is so explicit that there can
be no doubt of his meaning. In his letter to Governor
Magoffin, of Kentucky, declining to remove the Union
troops from that State, and rebuking that official for his
indifference to the cause of his country — in the one to Gen-
eral Fremont, in reference to the modification of his pro-
clamation, and in fact in all his correspondence on matters
connected with political movements, his views have been
of such a force and exalted character that they could not
fail to receive the hearty approbation of his fellow-country-
men.

On the nineteenth of February, 1862, he issued a pro-
clamation requesting the people of the United States to
assemble on the twenty-second of the same month and
celebrate the day by reading the Farewell Address of the
11 Father of his Country."

THE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE RECOMMENDING
GRADUAL EMANCIPATION.

. On the sixth of March, 18G2. the President sent into

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 121

Congress the following Message, recommending the adop-
tion of measures looking to " gradual, and not suddea"
emancipation :

" Fellow- Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives :

" I recommend the adoption of a joint resolution by your
honorable bodies which shall be substantially as follows :

" 'Resolved, That the United States ought to cooperate with
any State which may adopt a gradual abolishment of slavery,
giving to such State pecuniary aid to be used by such State
in its discretion, to compensate for the inconveniences, public
and private, produced by such change of system.'

" If the proposition contained in the resolution does not meet
the approval of Congress and the country, there is the end ; but
if it does command such approval, I deem it of importance
that the States and people immediately interested should be at
once distinctly notified of the fact, so that they may begin to
consider whether to accept or reject it. The Federal Govern-
ment would find its highest interest in such a measure as one of
the most efficient means of self-preservation. The leaders of
t lie existing insurrection entertain the hope that the Govern'
ment will ultimately be forced to acknowledge the independence
of some part of the disaffected region, and that all the slave
States north of such parts will then say: 'The Union for which
we have struggled being already gone, we now choose to go with
thesouthein section.' To deprive them of this hope, substan-
tially ends the rebellion, and the initiation of emancipation com-
pletely deprives them of it as to all the States initiating it.

" The point is not that all the States tolerating slavery would
very soon, if at all, initiate emancipation, but that while the
offer is equally made to all, the more northern shall, by such
initiation, make it certain to the more southern that in no
event will the former ever join the latter in their proposed con-
federacy. I say 'initiation,' because, in my judgment, gradual
and not sudden emancipation is better for all. In the mere
financial or pecuniary view, any member of Congress, with the
census tables and the treasury report before him. can readily
see for himself how very soon the current expenditures of this
war would purchase, at a fair valuation, all the slaves in any
named State.

"Such a proposition on the part of the general Government
sets up no claim of a right by Federal authority to interfere
with slavery within State limits, referring as it does the absolute
control of the subject in each case to the State and its people
immediately interested. It is proposed as a matter of perfectly
free choice with them.

" In .he annual message last December I thought fit to say *

122 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

'The Union must be preserved, and hence all indispensable
means must be employed.' I said this not hastily, but deliber-
ately. War has been, and continues to be an indispensable
means to this end. A practical re-acknowledgment of the
national authority would render the war unnecessary, and it
would at once cease. If, however, resistance continues, the war
must also continue, and it is impossible to foresee all the inci-
dents which may attend, and all the ruin which may follow it.
Such as may seem indispensable or may obviously promise
great efficiency toward ending the struggle, must and will come.
The proposition now made is an offer only, and I hope it may
be esteemed no offence to ask whether the pecuniary considera-
tion tendered would not be of more value to the States and
private persons concerned than are the institution and property
in it, in the present aspect of affairs. While it is true that the
adoption of the proposed resolution would be merely initiatory,
and not within itself a practical measure, it is recommended in
the hope that it would soon lead to important results. In full
view of my great responsibility to my God and to my country,
I earnestly beg the attention of Congress and the people to the
subject. "Abraham Lincoln. "

This important recommendation was received with the
most unbounded satisfaction in all sections of the great
North and West, and the leading loyal journals vied with
each other in the laudatory notices bestowed upon its illus-
trious author. The English press favorable to the preser-
vation of the Union, were equally complimentary, and
pronounced it a fair, moderate, and magnanimous policy,
greatly in contrast with that adopted by the rebel authori-
ties.

ASSUMES ACTIVE COMMAND OF THE ARMY
AND NAVY.

On the eleventh of March, 1862, the President gave an
additional evidence of his independence and fearlessness
by promulgating, for the information of the service and
the country, three important military orders, assuming the
active duties of Commander-in-Chief of the Army and
Navy of the United States ; ordering a general and com-
bined movement of the land and naval forces ; requiring
the Army of the Potomac to be organized into Corps ; con-

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 123

fining General McClellan to the command of the Depart-
ment of the Potomac ; and organizing the Department of
the Mississippi and the Mountain Department.

THANKSGIVING FOR SIGNAL VICTORIES.

The triumphant success of our arms in the South and
West during the early spring months of that year of con-
flict and carnage, prompted Mr. Lincoln to call upon the
patriots of the nation to offer up their thanks to the Al-
mighty for his manifold kindnesses, and for the inestimable
blessings he had showered upon them in their hour of
need. The recommendation was scrupulously observed,
and from almost every place of public worship arose upon
the following Sabbath songs of thanksgiving, mingled with
invocations for a continuance of the Diviue guidance.

SLAVERY ABOLISHED IN THE DISTRICT OP
COLUMBIA.

On the sixteenth of April, 1862, Mr. Lincoln consum-
mated an act which had for many years been one of his
most favorite projects, by sending into Congress the fol-
lowing Message :

"Fellow- Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives :

" The act entitled 'Au act for the release of certain persons
held to service or labor in the District of Columbia,' has this
day been approved and signed.

" I have never doubted the constitutional authority of Con-
gress to abolish slavery in this District, and I have ever desired
to see the national capital freed from the institution in some
satisfactory way. Hence there has never been in my mind any
question upon the subject except the one of expediency, arising
in view of all the circumstances. If there be matters within
and about this act, which might have taken a course or shape
more satisfactory to my judgment, I do not attempt to specify
them. I am gratified that the two principles of compensation
and colonization are both recognized and practically applied in
the act.

" In the matter of compensation, it is provided that claims
may be presented within ninety days from the passage of the
act, but not thereafter, and there is no saving for minors,/emwies

i
124 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

coverts, insane, or absent persons. I presume this is an omis-
sion by mere oversight, and I recommend that it be supplied by
an amendatory or supplemental act. "Abraham Lincoln."

RE-OPENING OF SOUTHERN PORTS.

During the month of May, 1862, two important proclama-
tions were published — one on the twelfth, declaring the ports
of Beaufort, Port Royal, and New Orleans open for trade ;
and the second, a week later, repudiating an emancipation
order of Major-General Hunter. This last document is
too important a part of the history of the rebellion to be
omitted here, and we therefore give it in full. It is as
follows :

" Wliereas, There appears in the public prints what purports
to be a proclamation of Major-General Hunter, in the words and
figures following, to wit:

" ' Head-quarters, Department of the SouTn,
" ' Hilton Head, S. C, May 9th, 1862.
"'General Orders No. 11.

"'The three States of Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina,
comprising the Military Department of the South, having delib-
erately declared themselves no longer under the protection of
the United States of America, and having taken up arms against
the said United States, it becomes a military necessity to declare
them under martial law. This was accordingly done on the
twenty-fifth day of April, 18G2. Slavery and martial law in a
free country are altogether incompatible. The* persons in these
three States, Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina, heretofore
held as slaves, are therefore declared forever free.

'"David Hunter, Major-General Commanding.

"'Official:

" ' Ed. W. Smith, Acting Assistant Adjutant-General?

"And whereas, The same is producing some excitement and
misunderstanding,

"Therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United
States, proclaim and declare that the government of the United
States had no knowledge or belief of an intention, ou the part of
General Hunter, to issue such a proclamation, nor has it yet any
authentic information that the document is genuine ; and further,
that neither General Hunter nor any other commander or person
has been authorized by the government of the United States to
make proclamation declaring the slaves of any State free, and
that the supposed proclamation now in question, whether
genuine or false, is altogether void, so far as respects such
declaration.

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 125

" I further make known, that whether it be competent for me
as commander-in-chief of the army and navy to declare the
slaves of any State or States free, and whether at any time, or
in any case, it shall have become a necessity indispensable to the
maintenance of the government to exercise such supposed power,
are questions which, under my responsibility, I reserve to myself,
and which I cannot feel justified in leaving to the decision of
commanders in the field. These are totally different questions
from those of police regulations in armies and camps.

" On the sixth day of March last, by a special message, I
recommended to Congress the adoption of a joint resolution, to
be substantially as follows :

11 'Resolved, That the United States ought to co-operate with
any State which may adopt a gradual abolishment of slavery,
giving to such State in its discretion to compensate for the in-
conveniences, public and private, produced by such change of
system.'

" The resolution, in the language above quoted, was adopted
by large majorities in both branches of Congress, and now stands
an authentic, definite and solemn proposal of the nation to the
States and people most immediately interested in the subject
matter. To the people of these States I now earnestly appeal.
I do not argue ; I beseech you to make the arguments for your-
selves. You cannot, if you would, be blind to the signs of the
times. I beg of you a calm and enlarged consideration of them,
ranging, if it may be, far above personal and partisan politics.
This proposal makes common cause for a common object, cast-
ing no reproaches upon any. It acts not the Pharisee. The
change it contemplates would come gently as the dews of
Heaven, not rending or wrecking any thing. Will you not em-
brace it? So much good has not been done by one effort in all
past time, as in the Providence of God it is now your high
privilege to do. May the vast future not ha7e to lament that
you have neglected it.

" In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused
the seal of the United States to be affixed.

" Done at the City of Washington, this nineteenth day of
May, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and
sixty-two, and of the Independence of the United States the
eighty-sixth.

" By the President : "Abraham Lincoln.

" Wm. H. Seward, Secretary of State."

THE PRESIDENT'S CONFERENCE WITH THE
LOYAL GOVERNORS— HIS INTERVIEW WITH
THE BORDER CONGRESSMEN.

On the first of July, 1862, the President, in ac-
cordance with the Act for the collection of direct taxes in

126 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

the insurrectionary districts, issued a proclamation de-
claring in what States and in what counties of Virginia
insurrection existed ; and on the same day addressed a
letter to the Governors of the loyal States, in reply to one
received from them, asking that for the purpose of follow-
ing up recent signal successes by measures which would
ensure the speedy restoration of the Union, a sufficient
number of men from each State to fill up existing regi-
ments and to form new organizations, might be called for.
Air. Lincoln fully concurred in the views of the Executives
and expressed his intention to call for an additional force
of three hundred thousand men.

On the twelfth of July, an interesting interview took
place at the White House, the Senators and Representa-
tives of the Border States having assembled there by in-
vitation of the President, who wished to converse with
them upon the important topic of gradual emancipation.
During an extended conversation, he expressed his views
clearly and explicitly, requesting their calm consideration
of the subject, and charging them to commend his sug-
gestions to their constituents, and to prevent all doubt of
bis meaning, read to them the following appeal :

"Gentlemen: After the adjournment of Congress, nownear, I
shall have no opportunity of seeing you for several months.
Believing that you of the border States hold more power for
good than any other equal number of members, I feel it a duty,
which I cannot justifiably waive, to make this appeal to you.

4i I intend no reproach or complaint when I assure you that,
in my opinion, if you all had voted for the resolution in the gradual
emancipation message of last March, the war would now be sub-
stantially ended. And the plan therein proposed is yet one of
the most potent and swift means of ending it. Let the States
which are in rebellion see definitely and certainly that, in no
event, will the States you represent ever join their proposed
confederacy, and they cannot much longer maintain the contest.
But you cannot divest them of their hope to ultimately have you
with them so long as you show a determination to perpetuate the
institutions within your own States. Beat them at elections, as
you have overwhelmingly done, and, nothing daunted, they still
claim you as theirown. You and I know what the lever of their

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 127

power is. Break that lever before their faces, and they can
shake you no more forever.

" Most of you have treated me with kindness and consideration,
and I trust you will not now think I improperly touch what is
exclusively your own, when, for the sake of the'whole country,
I ask, ' Can you, for your States, do better than to take the
course I urge?' Discarding- punctilio and maxims adapted to
more manageable times, and looking only to the unprecedentedly
stern facts of our case, can you do better in any possible event ?
You prefer that the constitutional relation of the States to the
nation shall be practically restored without disturbance of the
institution ; and, if this were done, my whole duty, in this re-
spect, under the Constitution and my oath of office, would be
performed. But it is not done, and we are trying to accomplish
it by war. The incidents of the war cannot be avoided. If the
war continues long, as it must if the object be not sooner at-
tained, the institution in your States will be extinguished by
mere friction and abrasion — by the mere incidents of the war.
It will be gone, and you will have nothing valuable in lieu of it.
Much of its value is gone already. How much better for you
and for your people to take the step which at once shortens the
war, and secures substantial compensation for that which is sure
to be wholly lost in any other event ! How much better to thus
save the money which else we sink forever in the war ! How
much better to do it while we can, lest the war, ere long, ren-
der us pecuniarily unable to do it ! How much better for you, as
seller, and the nation, as buyer, to sell out and buy out that without
which the war could never have been, than to sink both the thing
to be sold and the price of it in cutting one another's throats.

*' I do not speak of emancipation at once, but of a decision at
once to emancipate gradually. Room in South America for
colonization can be obtained cheaply and in abundance ; aud,
when numbers shall be large enough to be company and en-
couragement for one another, the freed people will not be so
reluctant to go.

" I arn pressed with a difficulty not yet mentioned — one which
threatens division among those who, united, are none too strong.
An instance of it is known to you. General Hunter is an honest
man. He was, and I hope still is, my friend. I valued him
none the less for his agreeing with me in the general wish that
all men everywhere could be freed. He proclaimed all men free
within certain States, and I repudiated the proclamation. He
expected more good aud less harm from the measure than I could
believe would follow. Yet, in repudiating it, I gave dissatisfac-
tion, if not offence, to many whose support the country cannot
afford to lose. And this is not the end of it. The pressure in
this direction is still upon me, and is increasing. By conceding
what I now ask, you can relieve me, and, much more, cau relieve
tlie country in this important point.
8

128 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN

" Upon these considerations I have again begged your attei
tion to the message of March last. Before leaving the capital,
consider and discuss it among yourselves. You are patriots and
statesmen, and, as such, I pray you consider this proposition,
and, at the least, commend it to the consideration of your States
and people. As you would perpetuate popular government for
the best people in the world, I beseech you that you do in nowise
omit this. Our common country is in great peril, demanding
the loftiest views and boldest action to bring a speedy relief.
Once relieved, its form of government is saved to the world, its
beloved history and cherished memories are vindicated, and its
happy future fully assured and rendered inconceivably grand.
To yon, more than to any others, the privilege is given to assure
that happiness and swell that grandeur, aud to link your own
names therewith forever."

INSTRUCTIONS TO MILITARY AND NAVAL
COMMANDERS.

On the twenty-second of July, he issued the following
order :

""War Department, Washington, July 22d, 18b'*.

"First. Ordered that military commanders within the States
of Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mis-
sissippi, Louisiana, Texas, and Arkansas, in an ordinary manner
seize and use any property, real or personal, which may be
necessary or convenient for their several commands, for sup-
plies, or for other military purposes; and that while property
may be destroyed for proper military objects, none shall be de-
stroyed in wantonness or malice.

"Second. That military and naval commanders shall employ
as laborers, within and from said States, so many persons of
African descent as can be advantageously used for military or
naval purposes, giving them reasonable wages for their labor.

" Third. That, as to both property, and persons of African
descent, accounts shall be kept sufficiently accurate and in de-
tail to show quantities and amounts, and from whom both prop-
erty and such persons shall have come, as a basis upon which
compensation can be made in proper cases ; and the several de-
partments of this government shall attend to and perform their
appropriate parts toward the execution of these orders.

" By order of the President.

'* Edwi.v If. Staxtox,

"Secretary of War."

And on the twenty-fifth of July, by proclamation, he
warned all persons to cease participating in aiding, counte-
nancing, or abetting the rebellion, and to return to *heir

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 129

allegiance under penalty of the forfeitures and seizures
provided by an Act " to suppress insurrection, to punish
treason and rebellion, to seize and confiscate the property
of rebels, and for other purposes," approved on the seven-
teenth of July, 1862.

A DRAFT FOR THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND
MEN ORDERED.

On the fourth of August, 1862, the following order for

a draft was issued :

" Ordered : First, that a draft of three hundred thousand mili-
tia be immediately called into the service of the United States,
to serve for nine months, unless sooner discharged. The Secre-
tary of War will assign the quotas to the States and establish
regulations for the draft.

"Second, that if any State shall not, by the fifteenth of
August, furnish its quota of the additional three hundred thou-
sand volunteers authorized by law, the deficiency of volunteera
in that State will also be made up by a special draft from the
militia. The Secretary of War will establish regulations for
this purpose.

" Third, regulations will be prepared by the War Department,
and presented to the President, with the object of securing the
promotion of officers of the army and volunteers for meritorious
and distinguished services, and of preventing the nomination and
appointment in the military service of incompetent or un-
worthy officers.

"The regulations will also provide for ridding the service of
such incompetent persons as now hold commissions.

"By order of the President.

"Edwin M. Staxto.v,

"Secretary of War.1

THE PRESIDENT SPEAKS AT A WAR
MEETING.

On the sixth of August, 1862, a large and enthusi-
astic Union meeting was held in Washington, at which a
series of patriotic resolutions wa3 adopted, and numerous
eloquent speeches delivered, among others the followiug
characteristic one by the Chief Magistrate of the nation :

" Fellow- citizens : I believe there is no precedent for ray ap-
pearing before you on this occasion, [upplause,] but it is also

130 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLX.

true that there is no precedent for your being- here yourselves,
[applause and laughter,] and I offer, iu justification of myself
and of you, that, upon examination, I have found nothing iu tho
Constitution against it. [Renewed applause.] I, however, have
an impression that-there are younger gentlemen who will enter-
tain you better, [voices — 'No, no! none can do better than
yourself. Go on !'] aud better address your understanding than
I will or could, and therefo e I propose but to detain you a mo-
ment longer. [Cries — ' Go m ! Tar and feather the rebels !']

" I am very little inclined on any occasion to say any thing
unless 1 hope to produce some good by it. [A voice — ' You do
that ; go on.'] The only thing I think of just now not likely to
be better said by some one else is a matter iu which we have
heard some other persons blamed for what I did myself.
[Voices — ' What is it?'] There has been a very wide-spread at-
tempt to have a quarrel between General McClellan and tho
Secretary of War. Now, I occupy a position that enables me
to observe, at leapt these two gentlemen are not nearly so deep
in the quarrel as some pretending to be their friends. [Cries of
'Good.'] General McClellan's attitude is such that, in the very
selfishness of his nature, he cannot but wish to be successful,
and I hope he will — and the Secretary of War is in precisely the
same situation. If the military commanders in the field cannot
be successful, not only the Secretary of War, but myself, for the
time being the master of them both, cannot be but failures.
[Laughter and applause.] I know General McClellan wishes to
be successful, and I know he does not wish it any more than the
Secretary of War for him, and both of them together no more
than I wish it. [Applause and cries of ' Good.'] Sometimes
we have a dispute about how many men Genera) McClellan has
had, and those who would disparage him say that he has had a
very large number, and those who would disparage the Secretary
of War insist that General MeClellan has had a very small
number. The basis for this is, there is always a wide difference,
and on this occasion perhaps a wider one, between the grand
total on McClellan's rolls and the men actually fit for duty ; and
those who would disparage him talk of the grand total on paper,
and those who would disparage the Secretary of War talk of
those at present lit for duty. General McClellan has sometimes
asked for things that the Secretary of War did not give him.
General McClellan is not to blame for asking what he wanted and
needed, and the Secretary of War is not to blame for not giving
when he had none to give. [Applause, laughter, and cries of
4 Good, good.'] And I say here, as far as 1 know, the Secretary
of War has withheld no one thing at any time in my power to
give him. [Wild applause, and a voice — 'Give him enough
now!'] I have no accusation against him. I believe he is a,
brave and able man, [applause,] and I staud here, as justice re-
quires me to do, to take upon myself what has beeu charged oa
the Secretary of War, as withholding from him.

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. IS!

"I have talked longer than I expected to, [cries of ' No, no —
go on,'] and now I avail myself of rny privilege of saying no
more."

THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATIONS OP
SEPTEMBER, 1862, AND JANUARY, 1883.

On the twenty-second of September, 1862, Mr. Lincoln
issued one of the two most important proclamations ever
/ enned by a President of the United States : that which
mnounced to the negroes held as slaves in the rebellious
States that on and after the first day of the new year, they
should be forever released from bondage. This great docu-
ment, which was read with joy by the loyal residents of the
North, and which was a source of such infinite happiness
to the unfortunate class of beings who were to be more
particularly affected by its provisions, was as follows :

" I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States of
America, and Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy
thereof, do heieby proclaim and declare that hereafter as here-
tofore the war will be prosecuted for the object of practically
restoring the constitutional relation between the United States
and the people thereof in those States in which that relation is,
or may be, suspended or disturbed ; that it is my purpose upon
the next meeting of Congress to again recommend the adoption
of a practical measure tendering pecuniary aid to the free ac-
ceptance or rejection of all the slave States, so-called, the peo-
ple whereof may not then be in rebellion against the United
States, and which States may then have voluntarily adopted, or
thereafter may voluntarily adopt, the immediate or gradual
abolishment of slavery within their respective limits, and that
the effort to colonize persons of African descent, with their con-
sent, upon the continent or elsewhere, with the previously ob-
tained consent of the government existing there, will be con-
tinued ; that on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord
one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as
slaves within any State, or any designated part of a State, the
people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United
States, shall be then, thenceforward and forever, free, and the
executive govetnment of the United States, including the
military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and main-
tain the freedom of such persons, aud will do no act or acts to
repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may
make for their actual freedom ; that the Executive will, on the first

132 HFF A^Z> SERVICES JF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

day of January aforesaid, by proclamation, designate the States
and parts of States, if any, in which the people thereof respec-
tively shall then be in rebellion against the United States ; and
the fact that any State, or the people thereof, shall on that day
be in good faith represented in the Congress of the United
States by members chosen thereto, at elections wherein a ma-
jority of the qualified voters of such Stat^ shall have partici-
pated, shall, in the absence of strong countervailing testimony,
be deemed conclusive evidence that such State and the people
thereof have not been in rebellion against the United States.

" That attention is hereby called to an act of Congress en-
titled, 'An act to make an additional article of war,' approved
March 13, 1862, and which act is in the words and figures fol-
lowing :

" 'Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That here-
after the following shall be promulgated as an additional article
of war for the government of the army of the United States, and
shall be observed and obeyed as such.

" ' Article — . All officers or persons of the military or naval
service of the United States are prohibited from employing any
of the forces under their respective commands for the purpose
of returning fugitives from service or labor who may have
escaped from any persons to whom such service or labor is
claimed to be due, and any officer who shall be found guilty by
a court-martial of violating this article, shall be dismissed from
the service.

" ' Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That this act shall take
effect from and after its passage.'

1 Also to the ninth and tenth sections of an act entitled, ' An
act to suppress insurrection, to punish treason and rebellion, to
seize and confiscate property of rebels, and for other purposes,'
approved July 17, 1862, and which sections are in the words
and figures following :

" ' Sec. 9. And be it further enacted, That all slaves of per-
sons who shall hereafter be engaged in rebellion against the
government of the United States, or who shall in any way give
aid or comfort thereto, escaping from such persons and taking
refuge within the lines of the army ; and all slaves captured
from such persons or deserted by them, and coming under the
control of the government of the United States, and all slaves of
such persons found on (or being within) any place occupied by
rebel forces and afterwards occupied by the forces of the United
States, shall be deemed captives of war, and shall be forever
free of their servitude and not again held as slaves.

" ' Sec. 10. And be it further enacted, That no slave escaping
into any State, Territory, or the District of Columbia, from any
of the States, shall be delivered up, or in any way impeded or
hindered of his liberty, except for crime, or some offence against

XilFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 133

the laws, unless the person claiming said fugitive shall first make
oath that the person to whom the labor or service of such fugi-
tive is alleged to be due, is his lawful owner, and has not been
in arms against the United States in the present rebellion, nor
in any way given aid and comfort thereto ; and no person en-
gaged in the military or naval service of the United States
shall, under any pretence whatever, assume to decide on the
validity of the claim of any person to the service or labor of any
other person, or surrender up any such person to the claimant,
on pain of being dismissed from the service.'

" And I do hereby enjoin upon, and order all persons engaged
in'the military and naval service of the United States to ob-
serve, obey and enforce within their respective spheres of ser-
vice the act and sections above recited.

" And the executive will in due time recommend that all citi-
zens of the United States who shall have remained loyal thereto
throughout the rebellion, shall (upon the restoration of the con-
stitutional relation between the United States and their respec-
tive States and people, if the relation shall have been suspended
or disturbed) be compensated for all losses by acts of the United
States, including the loss of slaves.

" Id witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused
the seal of the United States to be affixed.

" Done at the city of Washington, this twenty-second day of
September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred
and sixty-two, and of the Independence of the United States
the eighty-seventh.

" By the President : " Abraham Lincoln.

" "Wm. H. Seward, Secretary of Slate."

Such a bold movement was necessarily distasteful to
the traitors, and while the Southern journals pronounced
it to be a bid for the slaves to rise in insurrection, a bid
which none but a barbarian would devise, it was denounced
in the Richmond Congress, and a resolution was there
offered, exhorting the people to slay every Union soldier
and raider found within their borders, and offering a reward
to every negro, who would, after the first of January, 1863,
kill a Unionist.

The other important proclamation was issued on the
first of January, 1863, and was worded as follows :

"Whereas, on the twenty-second day of September, in
year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, a
proclamation was issued by the President of the United State*
containing among other things the following, to wit':

134 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

" That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord
one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as
slaves within any State, or designated part of a State, the
people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United
States, shall be then, thenceforth and forever free, and the Ex-
ecutive Government of the United States, including the military
and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the
freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress
such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for
their actual freedom.

" That the Executive will, on the first day of January afore-
said, by proclamation, designate the States and parts of States,
if any, in which the people therein respectively shall then be in
rebellion against the United States, and the fact that any State
or the people thereof, shall on that day be in good faith repre-
sented in the Congress of the United States by members chosen
thereto, at elections wherein a majority of the qualified voters
of such States shall have participated, shall, in the absence of
strong countervailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evidence
that such State and the people thereof are not then in rebellion
against the United States.

" Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the
United States, by virtue of the power in me vested as Com-
mander-in-chief of the Army and Navy of the United States in
time of actual armed rebellion against the authority and Gov
eminent of the United States, and as a fit and necessary war
measure for suppressing said rebellion, do, on this first day of
January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred
and sixty-three, and in accordance with my purpose so to do,
publicly proclaimed for the full period of one hundred days
from the day of the first above-mentioned order, and designate,
as the States and parts of States wherein the people thereof
respectively are this day in rebellion against the United States,
the following to wit : Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, except the
parishes of St. Bernard, Plaquemines, Jefferson, St. John, St.
Charles, St. James, Ascension, Assumption, Terre Bonne, La-
fourche, St. Mary, St. Martin, and Orleans, including the City
of New Orleans. Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia,
South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia, except the forty-
eight counties designated as West Virginia, and also the
counties of Berkeley, Accomac, Northampton, Elizabeth City,
York, Princess Ann, and Norfolk, including the cities of Nor-
folk and Portsmouth, and which excepted parts are, for the
present, left precisely as if this proclamation were not issued.

"And by virtue of the power and for the purpose aforesaid, I
do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said
designated States and parts of States are, and henceforward
Bhall be free ; and that the Executive Government of the
United States, including the Military and Naval authorities

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN". 135

thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said
persons.

"And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free,
to abstain from all violence, unless in necessary self-defence, and I
recommend to them, that in all cases, when allowed, they labor
faithfully for reasonable wages.

"And I further declare and make known that such persons of
suitable condition will be received into the armed service of
the United States to garrison forts, positions, stations, and
other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service.

"And upon this, sincerely believed to be an act of justice,
warranted by the Constitution, upon military necessity, I invoke
the considerate judgment of mankind and the gracious favor
of Almighty God.

"In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused
the seal of the United States to be affixed.

"Done at the City of Washington, this first day of
r -i Jauuary, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight
L ' 'J hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of
the United States of America the eighty-seventh.
" By the President : "Abraham Lincoln.

" William II. Seward, Secretary of State."

SUSPENSION OP THE WRIT OF HABEAS

CORPUS.

On the twenty-fourth of September, 18G2, two days
after the promulgation of the renowned Emancipation Proc-
lamation, the following order was published :

" Whereas, It has become necessary to call into service, not
only volunteers, but also portions of the militia of the State by
draft, iu order to suppress the insurrection existing in the United
States, and disloyal persons are not adequately restrained by
the ordinary processes of law from hindering this measure, and
from giving aid and comfort in various ways to the insurrection :

" Now, therefore, be it ordered :

" First. That during the existing insurrection, and as a ne-
cessary measure for suppressing the same, all rebels and insur-
gents, their aiders and abettors, within the United States, and
ail persons discouraging volunteer enlistments, resisting militia
drafts, or guilty of any disloyal practice affording aid and com-
fort to the rebels against the authority of the United States,
shall be subject to martial law, and liable to trial and puuish-
ment by courts-martial or military commissions.

" Third. That the writ of habeas corpus is suspended in re-
spect to all persons arrested, or who are now, or hereafter du-
ring the rebellion shall be imprisoned in any fort, camp, arsenal,
military prison, or other place of confinement, by any military

136 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

authority or by the sentence of any court-martial or military
commission.

" In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused
the seal of the United States to be affixed.

" Done at the City of Washington, this twenty-fourth day of
September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred
and sixty-two, and of the Independence of the United States
the eighty-seventh.

" By the President. " Abraham Lincoln.

" Wm. H. Seward, Secretary of State."

The suspension of the Writ of Habeas Corpus was
naturally obnoxious to Northern sympathizers with trea-
son, and for some time their newspaper organs were daily
filled with editorial and other articles, teeming with in-
vidious criticism and abuse. The act placed more power
in the hands of the President than was acceptable to men
who, by their voice and pen, if not by their pecuniary
means, were aiding and abetting the enemies of the country,
and as they were not aware what moment they might be
arrested and imprisoned for their despicable crimes, in
their regard for their personal safety, they forgot their
prudence, and abused the Executive. The beneficial ef-
fects of the order were not over-estimated by Mr. Lincoln,
and with its promulgation almost entirely ceased the in-
tcference with enlistments, which had too often before that
date delayed the organization of regiments in some of the
loyal States.

THE SABBATH TO BE OBSERVED.

On the sixteenth of November, 1862, the following
order was issued to the soldiers and sailors of the Union :

" The President, Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy,
desires and enjoins the orderly observance of the Sabbath by
the officers and men in the military and naval service. The im-
portance for man and beast of the prescribed weekly rest, the
sacred rights of Christian soldiers and sailors, a becoming defer-
ence to the best sentiment of a Christian people, and a due
regard for the Divine will, demand that Sunday labor in the
■, Army and Navy be reduced to the measure of strict necessity.

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 137

'* The discipline and character of the National forces should
not suffer, nor the cause they defend be imperilled, by the pro-
fanation of the day or name of the Most High. 'At this time of
public distress' adopting the words of Washington in 1776,
' men may find enough to do in the service of God and their
country without abandoning themselves to vice and immorality.'
The first general order issued by the Father of his Country
after the Declaration of Independence indicates the spirit in
which our institutions were founded and should ever be defended :
4 The General hopes and trusts that every officer and man will
endeavor to live and act as becomes a Christian soldier defend-
ing the dearest rights and liberties of his country.'

"Abraham Lincoln."

HIS ANNUAL MESSAGE.— IMPORTANT RECOM-
MENDATIONS TO CONGRESS.

On the first of December, 1862, Mr. Lincoln sent in to
Congress his annual message ; giving a satisfactory resume*
of the events of the previous twelve months ; calling the
attention of the Senators and Representatives to important
matters which should receive their notice ; recommending
the organization of national banking associations, under
the hope and belief that they would be the means of pro-
moting the early resumption of specie payments ; re-im-
pressed upon them the importance of his plan of " compen-
sated emancipation;" repeated at length his views upon
the slavery question, and recommended the adoption of
the following resolutions and articles amendatory to the
Constitution :

"Resolved, By the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled, two-thirds
of both houses concurring, that the following articles be pro-
posed to the Legislatures or Conventions of the several States,
as amendments to the Constitution of the United States, all or
any of which articles, when ratified by three-fourths of the said
Legislatures or Conventions, to be vaiid as part or parts of the
said Constitution, namely :

"Article — . Every State wherein slavery now exists, which
shall abolish the same therein at any time or times before the
first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand nine
hundred, shall receive compensation from the United States aa
follows, to wit :

138 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

" The President of the United States shall deliver to every
such State, bonds of the United States, bearing interest at the

rate of , for each slave shown to have been therein, by the

eighth census of the United States ; said bonds to be delivered
to such State by instalments, or in one parcel at the completion
of the abolishment, according as the same shall have been
gradual or at one time within such State ; and interest shall
begin to ruu upon any such bond only from the proper time of its
delivery as aforesaid, and afterward. Any State having received
bonds as aforesaid, and afterward introducing or tolerating
slavery therein, shall refund to the United States the bonds so
received, or the value thereof, and all interest paid thereon.

"Article — . All slaves who shall have enjoyed actual free-
dom, by the chances of the war at any time, before the end of
the rebellion, shall be forever free ; but all owners of such, who
shall not have been disloyal, shall be compensated for them at
the same rates as is provided for States adopting abolishment
of slavery — but in such a way that no slave shall be twice
accounted for.

"Article — . Congress may appropriate money, and otherwise
provide for colonizing free colored persons with their own con-
sent, at any place or places without the United States."

The message and its recommendations were received
with the same eclat which has attended all the official
documents penned by the illustrious statesman. The
proclamation of September had awakened the people of
the Union to the vast advantages to be derived from the
adoption of his views and suggestions on every thing re-
lating to slavery, and as the day on which the unfortunate
blacks were to be rescued from a life of degradation ap-
proached, thousands, who had hitherto protested against
interference with the " peculiar institution," united with
their old political opponents, and awaited anxiously the
hour when the order of emancipation was to go into effect.
Residents of foreign lands were no less eager for the time
to arrive when the Federal Government should strike off
the fetters of the slave, and among other complimentary
addresses sent to the President, was one from Manchester,
England, from which we make the following extracts :

"As citizens of Manchester, assembled at the Free-Trade
Hall, we beg to express our fraternal sentiments toward you and

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 139

your country. We rejoice in your greatness as an outgrowth
of England, whose blood and language you share, whose orderly
and legal freedom you have applied to new circumstances, over
a region immeasurably greater than our own. We honor your
Free States, as a singularly happy abode for the working mil-
lions where industry is honored. One thing alone has, in the
past, lessened our sympathy with your country and our confi-
dence in it — we mean the ascendency of politicians who not
merely maintained negro slavery, but desired to extend and root
it more firmly. "We joyfully honor you, as the President, and
the Congress with you, for many decisive steps toward practi-
cally exemplifying your belief in the words of your great
founders: 'All men are created free and equal.' You have
procured the liberation of the slaves in the district around
Washington, and thereby made the centre of your Federation
visibly free. You have enforced the laws against the slave-
trade, and kept up your fleet against it. even while every ship
was wanted for service in your terrible war. You have nobly
decided to receive embassadors from the negro republics of
Ilayti and Liberia, thus forever renouncing that unworthy
prejudice which refuses the rights of humanity to men and
women on account of their color. In order more effectually to
stop the slave-trade, you have made with our Queen a treaty,
which your Senate has ratified, for the right of mutual search.
Your Congress has decreed freedom as the law forever in the
vast unoccupied or half unsettled Territories which are directly
subject to its legislative power. It has offered pecuniary aid to
all States which will enact emancipation locally, and has for-
bidden your generals to restore fugitive slaves who seek their
protection. You have entreated the slave-masters to accept
these moderate offers; and after long and patient waiting, you,
as Commander-in-chief of the Army, have appointed to-morrow,
the first of January. 18G?>, as the day of unconditional freedom
for the slaves of the rebel States. We implore you. for your
own honor and welfare, not to faint in your providential mission.
While your enthusiasm is aflame, and the tide of events runs
high, let the work be finished effectually. Leave no root of
bitterness to spring up ami work fresh misery to your children.
Tt is a mighty task, indeed, to reorganize the industry not only
of four millions of the colored race, but of five millions of
whiles. Nevertheless, the vast progre.-s yon have made in the
short space of twenty months, fi!i us with hope that every
stain on your freedom will shortly be removed, and that the
erasure of that foul blot upon civilization and Christianity —
chat tic slavery — during your Presidency, will cause the name of
Abraham Lincoln to be honored and revered by posterity."

In answer to this flattering letter, Mr. Lincoln sent a
happy response, in which he explained the motive which

140 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

had prompted him to the undeviating course he hf*s pur-
sued since his inauguration. He had, he said, considered
the duty of maintaining and preserving the Constitution
and the integrity of the Federal Republic paramount to
all others, and as a conscientious purpose to perform that
duty was the key to all the measures of his administra-
tion, he could not, if he would, under his oath and our
frame of government, depart from that purpose.

THE PRESIDENT VISITS THE ARMY OP THE

POTOMAC.

Early in April, 1863, the President left Washington on
a visit to the Army of the Potomac. He had in the pre-
vious year, when the same noble troops were resting at
Harrison's Landing, after their campaign before Richmond,
gone thither to observe for himself their true condition,
and upon other occasions has visited their camping-grounds,
where he has been always received with great enthusiasm.
Upon the visit to which we now refer, he was accompanied
by Mrs. Lincoln and one of his sons, and an eye-witness
thus describes the proceedings incident to the entertain-
ment of such distinguished guests :

On the morning of April seventh, 1863, a reception was
had in General Hooker's tent, the members of the staff pass-
ing in and being introduced to the President by the Chief of
Staff. Mr. Lincoln was in unusual good humor, and com-
pletely banished the constraint felt by all by his sociability
and shafts of wit. The interview lasted some time, much
to the enjoyment of all, until finally the officers one by one
dropped out, and the hour designated for the review ar-
rived. Early in the morning the several cavalry brigades
commenced moving towards the field selected for the re-
view, and during the forenoon were engaged forming the
lines and stationing guards to keep off the crowd. At
noon the roar of artillery announced that the cortege had

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 141

arrived. President Lincoln, mounted <m a magnificent
bay, adorned with heavy trappings, rode steadily and
rapidly along the line, with Generals Hooker and Stone-
man at his side, and followed by an imposing cavalcade
of general officers, aides-de-camp and orderlies. Having
returned to the right of the line, a position was selected for
the President upon a slight eminence, while the cavalry at
a walk passed in review before him, the bands playing
and the bugles sounding merrily. Mrs. Lincoln occupied
a carriage at the right of the President while the regi-
ments passed in review, surrounded by major-generals and
stars of lesser magnitude. After the cavalry had moved
off the field, the lancers, in splendid order, wheeled around
into line fronting the President, while the light artillery
dashed at a gallop through the avenue thus formed, the
guns and caissons bounding over the irregularities as
though the wheels were of India rubber. The cannon
were soon off the field, the lancers filed in behind the cav-
alcade of generals, spectators vanished, and the plateau,
torn and trodden by the squadrons, was left to the scatter-
ing working parties engaged in preparing the ground foi
the grand review of infantry. The President also rode
over to the head-quarters of several commanding officers,
and during the day reviewed the reserve artillery.

Doubtless the lady readers are anxious to know in
what dress the wife of the Chief Magistrate visited the
army, how she appeared, what she said, and how she liked
the contrast — the Executive mansion, with its costly fur
niture, and the bare floor, cot and camp stools of the field.
Mrs. Lincoln's attire was exceedingly simple — of that pe-
culiar style of simplicity which creates at the time no im-
pression upon the mind, and prevents one from remem-
bering any article of dress. In this case there was nothing
to attract attention, and after she had entered the tent
there was not one in twenty of those gathered about who

142 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

could tell what she wore. A rich black silk dress, with
narrow flounces ; a black cape, with a broad trimming of
velvet around the border, and a plain hat of the same hue,
composed her costume. A shade of weariness, doubtless
the result of her labors in behalf of the sick and wounded
in Washington, rested upon her countenance ; but the
change seemed pleasant to her, and the scenes of camp
were noted with evident interest. The President wore a
dark sack overcoat and a fur muffler, while Master Lincoln
sported a suit of gray, and rambled about among the tents,
examining the quarters of the staff, and watched by the
orderlies and sentries with a curiosity somewhat amusing

THE ENROLMENT ACT AND THE RIGHTS
OF ALIENS.
To enumerate all the proclamations which the President
issued during the year 1803, would be impossible in tb?s
work, and we must therefore restrict ourselves to those
which were of more than usual interest. The one in re-
gard to the rights of aliens, under the act calling out the
national forces, was one of these, and reads as follows :

"TYhereas, The Congress of the United States at its last
session enacted a law entitled, 'An act for enrolling and calling
out the national forces and for other purposes,' which was ap-
proved on the third day of March lust, and,

" Whereas, It is recited in the said act that there now exists
in the United States an insurrection and rebellion against the
authority thereof, and it is. under the Constitution of the United
States, the duty of the Government to suppress insurrection and
rebellion, to guarantee to each State a republican form of gov-
ernment, and to preserve the public tranquility, and

'• Whereas, For these high purposes a military force is indis-
pensable, to raise and support which all persons ought willingly
to contribute ; and

" V\hereas. No service can be more praiseworthy and honor-
able than that which is rendered for the maintenance of the
Constitution and the Union, and the consequent preservation
of the Government •; and

" Whereas, For the reasons thus recited, it was enacted by the
said statute that all able-bodied nude citizens of the United
StatC3 and persons of foreign birth, who shall have declared ou

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 14b

oath their intentions to become citizens, under and in pursuance
of the laws thereof, between the aires of twenty and forty-Lve
years, with certain exceptions not necessary to be here men-
tioned, are declared to constitute the national forces, and shall
be liable to perform military duty in the service of the United
States, when called out by the President for that purpose ;
and

" Whereas, It is claimed, and in behalf of persons of foreign
birth within the ages specified in said act who have heretofore
declared on oath their intentions to become citizens under and
in pursuance of the laws of the United States, and who have
not exercised the right of suffrage or any other political fran-
chise under the laws of the Uuited States, or any of the States
thereof, are not absolutely precluded by their aforesaid declara-
tion of intention from renouncing their purpose to become
citizens, and that, on the contrary, such persons under treaties
or the law of nations, retain a right to renounce that purpose
and to forego the privilege of citizenship and residence within
the United States under the obligations imposed by the afore-
said act of Congress.

" Now, therefore, to avoid all misapprehensions concerning
the liability of persons concerned to perform the service
required by such enactment, and to give it full effect, I do
hereby order and proclaim that no plea of alienage will be
received or allowed to exempt from the obligations imposed by
the aforesaid act of Congress, any person of foreign birth who
shall have declared, on oath, his intention to become a citizen
of the United States under the laws thereof, and who shall be
found within the United States at any time during the con-
tinuance of the present insurrection and rebellion, at or after
the expiration of the sixty-five days from the date of this proc-
lamation, nor shall any such plea of alienage be allowed in
favor of any such person who has so as aforesaid declared his
intention to become a citizeu of the United States, and shall
have exercised at any time the right of suffrage or any other
political franchise within the United States, under the laws
thereof, or under the laws of any of the several States.

" In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused
the seal of the Uuited States to be affixed.

" Done at the city of Washington, this eighth day of May,
in the year of our Lord 18G3. and of the independence of the
United States the eighty-seventh.

" By the President, "Abraham Lixcoij*.

" William H Seward, Secretary of State"

A NATIONAL THANKSGIVING ORDERED.

On the fifteenth day of July, 1863, the President or-
dered the sixth of the following month to be bet apart aa

144 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN".

a dav of National Thanksgiving. Victories had crowned
our arms on laud and sea, and no greater cause for offer-
ing thanks to the Almighty ever prompted the Chief Mag-
istrate of a country to call the people together, and few
proclamations were ever written more chaste and beauti-
ful than the following :

" It has pleased Almighty God to hearken to the supplications
and prayers of an afflicted people, and to vouchsafe to the army
and the navy of the United States, on the land and on the sea,
victories so signal and so effective as to furnish reasonable
grounds for augmented confidence that the union of these States
will be maintained, their constitutions preserved, and their peace
and prosperity permanently preserved.

•' l$~jt these victories have been accorded not without sacrifice
of L.&, limb and liberty, incurred by the brave, patriotic and
loyal citizens. Domestic affliction in every part of the country
follows in the train of these fearful bereavements. It is meet
and right to recognize and confess the presence of the Almighty
Father, and the power of His hand equally in these triumphs
and these sorrows.

"Now, therefore, be it known, that I do set apart Thursday,
the sixth day of August next, to be observed as a day for na-
tional Thanksgiving, praise, and prayer, and I invite the people of
the United States to assemble on that occasion in their custom-
ary places of worship, and in the forms approved by their own
conscience, render the homage due to the Divine Majesty for
the wonderful things He has done in the nation's behalf, aud
invoke the influence of His Holy Spirit to subdue the anger
which has produced and so long sustained a needless and cruel re-
bellion ; to change the hearts of the insurgents, to guide the
counsels of the government with wisdom adequate to so great a
national emergency, and to visit with tender care and consola-
tion throughout the length and breadth of our laud all those
who through the vicissitudes of marches, voyages, battles and
sieges, have been brought to suffer in mind, body or estate and
family, to lead the whole nation through paths of repentance
and submission to the Divine Will, back to the perfect enjoy-
ment of Union and fraternal peace.

" In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused
the seal of the United Stales to be affixed.

"Done at the city of Washington, this 15th day of July, in
the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred aud sixty-
three, and of the independence of the United States of America
the eighty-eighth. "Abraham Lincoln.

" By the President :

" William H. Seward, Secretary of State"

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 145

LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT ON THE
EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION.

The following letter, written in August, 18G3, in answer
to an invitation to attend a meeting of unconditional Union
men held in Illinois, gives at length the President's views
at that time on his Emancipation proclamation :

" Executive Mansion', Washington, August 26th, 1863.
" My Dear Sir : — Your letter inviting me to attend a mass
meeting of unconditional Union men, to be held at the capitol
of Illinois on the third day of September, has been received. It
would be very agreeable to me thus to meet my old friends at
my own home; but I cannot just now be absent from this city
so long as a visit there would require. The meeting is to be of
all those who maintain unconditional devotion to the Union ;
and I am sure that my old political friends will thank me for
tendering, as I do, the nation's gratitude to those other noble
men whom no partisan malice or partisan hope can make false
to the nation's life. There are those who are dissatisfied with
me. To such I would say : — You desire peace, and you blame
me that we do not have it. But how can we attain it ? There
are but three conceivable ways : — First, to suppress the rebel-
lion by force of arms. This I am trying to do. Are you for
it? If you are, so far we are agreed. If. you are not for it, a
second way is to give up the Union. I am against this. If you
are, you should say so, plainly. If you are not for force, nor yet
for dissolution, there only remains some imaginable compro-
mise. I do not believe that any compromise embracing the
maintenance of the Union is now possible. All that I learn
leads to a directly opposite belief. The strength of the rebel-
lion is its military — its army. That army dominates all the
country and all the people within its range. Any offer of any
terms made by any man or men within that range in opposition
to that army is simply nothing for the present, because such
man or men have no power whatever to enforce their side of a
compromise, if one were made with them. To illustrate : Sup-
pose refugees from the South and peace men of the North get
together in convention, and frame and proclaim a compromise
embracing the restoration of the Union. In what way can that
compromise be used to keep General Lee's army out of Penn-
sylvania? General Meade's army can keep Lee's army out of
Pennsylvania, and I think can ultimately drive it out of ex-
istence. But no paper compromise to which the controllers of
General Lee's army are not agreed, can at all affect that army.
In an effort at such compromise we would waste time which the
enemy would improve to our disadvantage, and that would be
all. A compromise, to be effective, must be made either with

146 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

those who control the rebel army, or with ihe people, first liber-
ated from the domination of that army by the success of our
army. Now, allow me to assure you that no word or intimation
'from the rebel army, or from any of the men controlling it. in
relation to any peace compromise, has ever come to my know-
ledge or belief. All charges and intimations to the contrary
are deceptive and groundless. And I promise you that if any
such proposition shall hereafter come, it shall not be rejected
and kept secret from you. I freely acknowledge myself to be
the servant of the people, according to the bond of service, the
United States constitution ; <>nd that, as such. T am responsible
to them. But, to be plain. You are dissatisfied with me abont
the negro. Quite likely there is a difference of opinion between
you and myself upon that subject. I certainly wish that all
men could be free, while you. I suppose, do not. Yet 1 have,
neither adopted nor proposed any measure which is not consist-
ent with even your view, provided yon are for the Union. 1
suggested compensated emancipation, to which you replied that
you wished not to be taxed to buy negroes. But 1 have not
asked you to be taxed to buy negroes, except in such way sis to
save you from greater taxation, to save the Union exclusively
by other means.

"You dislike the emancipation proclamation, and perhaps
would have it retracted. You say it is unconstitutional. I
think differently. J think that the constitution invests its com-
mander-in-chief with the law of war in time of war. The most
that can be said, if so much, is, that the slaves are property.
Is there, has there ever been, any question that by the law of
war, property, both of enemies and friends, may be taken when
needed ? And is it not needed whenever taking it helps us or
hurts the enemy ? Armies, the world over, destroy enemies' prop-
erty when they cannot use it; and even destroy their own to
keep it from the enemy. Civilized belligerents do all in their
power to help themselves or hurt the enemy, except a few
things regarded as barbarous or cfuel. Among the exceptions are
the massacre of vanquished foes and non-combatants, male and
female. But the proclamation, as law, is valid or is not valid.
If it is not valid it needs no retraction. If it is valid it cannot
be retracted, any more than the dead can be brought to life.
Some of you profess to think that its retraction would operate
favorably for the Union. Why better after the retraction than
before the issue? There was more thau a year and a half of
trial to suppress the rebellion before the proclamation was is-
sued, the last one hundred days of which passed under an ex-
plicit notice, that it was coming uuless averted by those in
revolt returning to their allegiance. The war has certainly
progressed as favorably for as since the issue of the proclamation
as before. I know as fully as one can know the opinions of others,
that some of the commanders of our armies in the field, who

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 147

have given us our most important victories, believe the emanci-
pation policy and the aid of colored troops constitute the
heaviest blows yet dealt to the rebellion, and that at least one
of those important successes could not have been achieved when
it was but for the aid of black soldiers. Among the command-
ers holding these views are some who have never had any affinity
with what is called abolitionism or with 'republican party
politics.' — But who hold them purely as military opinions. I
submit their opinions as being entitled to some weight against
the objections often urged that emancipation and arming the
blacks are unwise as military measures, and were not adopted
as such in good faith. You say that you will not fight to free
negroes. Some of them seem to be willing to fight for you —
but no matter. Fight you, then, exclusively to save the Union.
1 issued the proclamation on purpose to aid you in saving the
Union. Whenever you shall have conquered all resistance to
the Union, if I shall urge you to continue fighting, it will be an
apt time then for you to declare that you will not fight to free
negroes. I thought that in your struggle for the Union, to
whatever extent the negroes should cease helping the enemy, to
that extent it weakened the enemy in his resistance to you. ])"
you think differently ? I thought that whatever negroes can be
got to do as soldiers, leaves just so much less for white soldiers
to do in saving the Union. Does it appear otherwise to you?
But negroes, like other people, act upon motives. Why should
they do any thing tor us if we will do nothing for them ? It
they stake their lives for us they must be prompted by the
strongest motive, even the promise of freedom. And the prom-
ise, being made, must be kept. The signs look better. The
Father of Waters again goes un vexed to the sea. Thanks to
the great North-west for it. Not yet wholly to them. Three
hundred miles up they met New England. Empire, Keystone and
Jersey, hewing their way right and left. The Sunny South, too,
in more colors than one. also lent a hand. On the spot theit
part of the history was jotted down in black and white. The
job was a great national one, and let none be banned who bor«
an honorable part m it; and, while those who have cleared the
great river may well be proud, even that is not all. It is hard
to say that any thing has been more bravely and better done than
at Antieiam, Murfreesboro. Gettysburg, and on many fields of
less note. Nor must Uncle Sam's webfleet be forgotten. At
all the waters' margins they have been present: — not only ou
the deep sea, the broad bay and the rapid river, but also up the
narrow, muddy bayou ; and wherever the ground was a little
damp they have been and made their tracks. Thanks to all.
For the great republic — for the principles by which it lives and
keeps alive — for man's vast future — thanks to all. Peace does
not appear so far distant as it did. I hope it will come soon, and
come to stay : and so come as to be worth the keeping in all future

\

148 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

time. It will then have been proved that among freemen there
can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet, and
that they who take such appeal are sure to lose their case and
pay the cost. And then there will be some black men who can
remember that, with silent tongue, and clenched teeth, and
steady eye, and well poised bayonet, they have helped mankind
on to this great consummation ; while I fear that there will be
some white men unable to forget that with malignant heart and
deceitful speech they have striven to hinder it. Still let us not
be over sanguine of a speedy final triumph. Let us be quite
sober. Let us diligently apply the means, never doubting that
a just God, in his own good time, will give us the rightful re-
sult. Yours very truly, "A.Lincoln."

During September and October, 1863, the following
proclamations were published :

SUSPENSION OF THE WRIT OF HABEAS
CORPUS IN CERTAIN CASES.

"Washington, Sept. 15th, 1863.

" Whereas, the Constitution of the United States has or-
dained that ' the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall
not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion
the public safety may require it ;' and

" Whereas, a rebellion was existing on the third day of March,
1863, which rebellion is still existing ; and

" Whereas, by a statute which was approved on that day, it
was enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States in Congress assembled, that during the present
insurrection the President of the United States, whenever in his
judgment the public safety may require, is authorized to suspend
the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus in any case throughout
the United States, or any part thereof; and

" Whereas, in the judgment of the President the public safety
does require that the privilege of the said writ shall now be sus-
pended throughout the United States in cases where, by the au-
thority of the President of the United States, military, naval and
civil officers of the United States, or any of them, hold persons
under their command or in their custody, either as prisoners of
war, spies, or aiders or abettors of the enemy, or officers, sol-
diers, or seamen enrolled, drafted or mustered or enlisted in or
belonging to the land or naval forces of the United States, or as
deserters therefrom, or otherwise amenable to military law, or to
the Rules and Articles of War, or to the rules and regulations
prescribed for the military or naval service by the authority of
the President of the United States, or for resisting a draft, or
for any other offence against the military or naval service :

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 149

" Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United
States, do hereby proclaim ami make known to all whom it may
concern, that the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus is sus-
pended throughout the United States in the several cases before
mentioned, and that the suspension will continue throughout the
duration of the said rebellion ; or until this proclamation shall by
a subsequent one, to be issued by the President of the United
States, be modified and revoked. And I do hereby require all
magistrates, attorneys and other civil officers within the United
States, and all officers and others in the military and naval
services of the United States, to take distinct notice of this sus-
pension, and give it full effect ; and all citizens of the United
States to conduct and govern themselves accordingly and in con-
formity with the Constitution of the United States and the laws
of Congress in such cases made and provided.

" In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and
caused the seal of the United States to be affixed, this fifteenth
day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight
hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the United
States of America the eighty-eighth.

" Abraham Lincoln.

" By the President :

" William H. Seward, Secretary of State."

NATIONAL THANKSGIVING PROCLAMATION.

" The year that is drawing towards its close has been filled with
the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these
bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to
forget the source from which they come, others have been added,
which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to
penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible
to the ever watchful providence of Almighty Cod.

" In the midst of a civil war of unequalled magnitude and
severity, which has sometimes seemed to invite and provoke the
aggression of foreign States, peace has been preserved with all
nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected
and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere, except in
the theatre of military conflict ; while that theatre has been
greatly contracted by the advaucing armies and navies of the
Union.

"The needful diversions of wealth and strength from the fields
of peaceful industry to the national defence have not arrested
the plough, the shuttle or the ship. The axe has enlarged the
borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and
coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abun-
dantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, not-
withstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the
siege and the battle-field ; and the country, rejoicing in the con-

150 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

sequences of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to ex-
pect continuance of years with large increase of freedom.

"No human counsel hath devised, nor hath any mortal hand
worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of
the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our
sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.

" It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be
solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one
heart and voice by the whole American people; 1 do. therefore,
invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and
also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign
lauds, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of Novpmber
next as a Day of Thanksgiving and Prayer to our beneficent
Father, who dwelleth in the heavens. And I recommend to
them that, while offering up the ascriptions justly due to him for
such singular deliverances and blessings; they do also, with
humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience,
commend to his tender care all those who have become widows,
orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in
which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the
interposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the
nation and to restore it. as soon as may be consistent with the
Divine purposes, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tran-
( utility, and union.

" In testimony whereof 1 have hereunto set my hand and
caused the seal of the United 8iat.es to be affixed.

•• Done at the city of Washington this third day of October,
in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-
three, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty-
eighth. "Abraham Lincoln.

• 13 y the President :

"William H. S rward, Secretary of State."

We have shown, in the first pages of this volume, that
the early instruction of Abraham Lincoln was of that re-
ligious character which could not fail to have a proper
effect upon his after life, and it is not therefore surprising
that during his Presidential career he has embraced every
opportunity to publicly acknowledge the source from
whence have come all the blessings the people of the
Union have received during the progress of the civil war;
and the unanimity with which his numerous requests for
a general Thanksgiving have been acquiesced in, can but
be gratifying to their author.

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 151

THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND MORE MEN
CALLED FOR.

" Wliereas, The term of service of part of the volunteer forces
of the United States will expire during the coming year; and
whereas, in addition to the men raised by the present draft, it is
deemed expedient to call out three hundred thousand volunteers,
to serve for three years or the war — not, however, exceeding
three years.

" Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the
United States and Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy
thereof, and of the militia of the several States when called into
actual service, do issue this my proclamation, calling upon tho
Governors of the different States to raise and have enlisted into
the United States service, for the various companies and regi-
ments in the held from their respective States, their quotas of
three hundred thousand men.

" I further proclaim that all the volunteers thus called out and
duly enlisted shall receive advance pay, premium and bounty, as
heretofore communicated to the Governors of States by the
War Department, through the Provost Marshal General's office,
by special letters.

•' I further proclaim that all volunteers received under this
call, as well as all others not heretofore credited, shall be duly
credited and deducted from the quotas established for the next
draft.

•• 1 further proclaim that, if any State shall fail to raise the
quota assigned to it by the War Department under this call ;
then a draft for the deficiency in said quota shall be made in
said State, or on the districts of said State, for their due pro-
portion of said quota, and the said draft shall commence ou the
fifth day of January, 1864.

"And I further proclaim that nothing in this proclamation
shall interfere with existing orders, or with those which may be
issued for the present draft in the States where it is now in pro-
gress or where it has not yet been commenced.

" The quotas of the States and districts will be assigned by
the War Department, through the Provost Marshal General's
office, due regard being had for the men heretofore furnished,
whether by volunteering or drafting, and the recruiting will be
conducted in accordance with such instructions is have been or
may be issued by that department.

" In issuing this proclamation I address myvJf not only to
the Governors of the several States, but also to the good and
loyal people thereof, invoking them to lend their cheerful, will-
ing and effective aid to the measures thus adopted, w'th a view
to reinforce our victorious armies now in the field and bring our
needful military operations to a prosperous end, thus closing
forever the fountains of sedition and civil war.

52 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

iv>_J

" In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused
the seal of the United States to be affixed.

"Done at the city of Washington, this seventeenth day of
October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred
and sixty-three, and of the independence of the United States
the eighty-eighth. "Abraham Lincoln

" By the President :

" Wm. H. Seward, Secretary of State."

THE PRESIDENT'S DEDICATORY ADDRESS AT
GETTYSBURG.

On the nineteenth of November, 1863, the President par-
ticipated in the solemn and imposing ceremonies incident to
the consecration of the National Cemetery at Gettysburg.
Arriving in the town on the previous evening, he was the
recipient of a delightful serenade, which he acknowledged
in a brief speech. On the next day he delivered the fol-
lowing beautiful Dedicatory Address :

" Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth
upon this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and
dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that
nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long
endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We
are met to dedicate a portion of it as the final resting-place of
those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It
is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

" Bat in a larger sense we cannot dedicate, we cannot conse-
crate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living
and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our
power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long
remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they
did here. It is for us, the living, rather to be dedicated here to
the unfinished work that they have thus far so nobly carried on.
It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remain-
ing before us — that from these honored dead we take increased
devotion to the cause for which they here gave the last full mea-
sure of devotion, — that we here highly resolve that the dead shall
not have died iu vain, that the nation shall, under God, have a
new birth of freedom, and that the government of the people, by
the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

THANKSGIVING PROCLAMATION.

On the seventh of December, 1863, the following recom-
mendation was made to the people of the country :

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. lf)?5

" Executive Mansion, Washington, Dec. 1th, 1863. — Reliable
information beii.g received that the insurgent force is retreating
from East Tennessee, under circumstances rendering it probable
that the Union forces canuot hereafter be dislodged from that
important position, and esteeming this to be of high National
consequence, 1 recommend that all loyal people do, on the re-
ceipt of this, informally assemble at their places uf worship, and
render special homage and gratitude to Almighty God for this
great advancement of the National cause. "A. Lincoln."

THE ANNUAL MESSAGE OF 1863— FULL PAR-
DON OFFERED TO THE REBELS.

On the ninth of December, 1863, President Lincoln sent
into Congress his Annual Message, and never were his wis-
dom and moderation more satisfactorily exhibited than in
this document. His review of our foreign relations and the
operations of the various departments of the Government
was comprehensive and clear, while on the subject of the
rebellion he re- affirm eel all that he had written in his pre-
vious messages, and in referring to the success which had
attended the proclamation of emancipation, he said :
" While I remain in my present position, I shall not at-
tempt to retract or modify the emancipation proclamation ;
nor shall I return to slavery any person who is free by
the terms of that proclamation, or by any of the acts of
Congress."

Accompanying the Message, was a proclamation offering
for the acceptance of the traitors a fair and practicable mode,
by which they might return to their allegiance, and once
again become loyal citizens. It was worded as follows :

"Whereas, In and by the Constitution of the United States,
it is provided that the President 'shall have power to grant re-
prieves and pardons for offences against the United States, ex-
cept in cases of impeachment;" and

u Whereas, A rebellion now exists whereby the loyal State
governments of several States have for a long time been sub-
verted, and many persons have committed and are now guilty
of treason against the United States ; and

" Whereas, With reference to said rebellion and treason, laws
have been enacted by Congress, declaring forfeitures and con-

J04 LIFE AND SERVICE4* 07 \BRAHAM LINCOLN.

fiscations of property and liberation of slaves, all upon terms
and conditions therein stated, and also declaring that the Presi-
dent was thereby authorized at any time thereafter, by proclama-
tion, to extend to persons who may have participated in the ex-
isting rebellion in any State, or part thereof, pardon and amnesty,
with such exceptions and at such times ard on such conditions
as he may deem expedient for the public welfare ; and

" Whereas. The Congressional declaration for limited and
conditional pardon accords with well-established judicial ex-
position of the pardoning power ; and

" Whereas, With reference to said rebellion, the President of
the United States has issued several proclamations, with pro-
visions in regard to the liberation of slaves ; and

" Whereas, It is now desired by some persons heretofore en-
gaged in said rebellion to resume their allegiance to the United
States, and to re-inaugurate loyal State governments within and
for their respective States;

" Therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln. President of the United
States, do proclaim, declare, and make known to all person?
who have, directly or by implication, participated in the exist-
ing rebellion, except as hereinafter excepted, that a full PAROOiN
is hereby granted to them and each of them, with restoration of
all rights of property, except as to slaves, and in property cases
where rights of third parties shall have intervened, and upon the
condition that every such person shall take and subscribe an
oath, and thenceforward keep and maintain said oath inviolate;
and which oath shall be registered for permanent preservation,
and shall be of the tenor and effect following, to wit :

" ' I , do solemnly swear, in presence of Almighty God.

that I will henceforth faithfully support, protect, and defend the
Constitution of the United States, and the Union of the States
thereunder; and that I will, in like manner, abide by and faith-
fully support all acts of Congress passed during the existing
rebellion with reference to slaves, so long and so far as not re-
pealed, modified, or held void by Congress, or by decision of the
Supreme Court ; and that 1 will, in like manner, abide by and
faithfully support all proclamations of the President made du-
ring the existing rebellion having reference to slaves, so long
and so far as not modified or declared void by decision of the
Supreme Court. So help me God.'

" The persons excepted from the benefits of the foregoing
provisions are all who are or shall have been civil or diplomatic
officers or agents of the so-called Confederate Government ; all
who have left judicial stations under the United States to aid
the rebellion ; all who are or shall have been military or naval
officers of said Confederate Government above the rank of
Colonel in the army or of Lieutenant in the navy; all who left
seats in the United States Congress to aid the rebelliou ; all
who resigned their commissions iu the army or navy of the United

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 155

States, and afterwards aided the rebellion, and all who have en-
gaged in any way, in treating colored persons or white persons,
in charge of such, otherwise than lawfully, as prisoners of war,
and which persons may be found in the United States service,
as soldiers, seamen, or in any other capacity.

•'And 1 do further proclaim, declare, and make known, that
whenever, in any of the States of Arkansas, Texas. Louisiana,
Mississippi. Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Caro-
lina, and North Carolina, a number of persons, not less than
one-tenth in number of the votes cast in such State at the Presi-
dential election of the year of our Lord 1860, each having taken
the oath aforesaid and not having since violated it, and being a
qualified voter by the election law of the State existing imme-
diately before the so-called act of secession, and excluding all
others, shall re-establish a State government which shall be Re-
publican, and in nowise contravening said oath, such shall be
recognized as the true government of the State, and the State
shall receive thereunder the benefits of the constitutional pro.
vision, which declares that 'the United States shall guarantee
to every State in this Union a Republican form of government,
and shall protect each of them against invasion ; and. on appli-
cation of the Legislature, or the executive (when the Legisla-
ture cannot be convened), against domestic violence.'

'•And 1 do further proclaim, declare, and make known, that
any provision which may be adopted by such State Government
in relation to the freed people of such State, which shall recog-
nize and declare their permanent freedom, provide for their
education, and which may yet be consistent, as a temporary ar-
rangement, with their present condition as a laboring, landless,
and homeless class, will not be objected to by the National
Executive. And it is suggested as not improper, that, in con-
structing a loyal State government in any State, the name of
the State, the boundary, the subdivisions, the Constitution, and
the general code of laws, as before the rebellion, be maintained,
subject only to the modifications made necessary by the condi-
tions hereinbefore stated, and such others, if any, not. contra-
vening said conditions, and which may be deemed expedient by
those framing the new State Government.

" To avoid misunderstanding, it may be proper to say that this
proclamation, so far as it relates to State Governments, has
no reference to States wherein loyal State Governments have
all the while been maintained. And for the same reason, it may
be proper to further say, that whether members sent to Congress
from any State shall be admitted to seats constitutionally, rests
exclusively with the respective Houses, and not to any extent
with the Executive. And still further, that this proclamation
is intended to present the people of the States wherein th^
National authority has been suspended, and loyal State Govern-
ments have been subverted, a mode in and by which the Na-

156 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN".

tional authority and loyal State Governments may be re-estab-
lished within said States, or in any of them ; and, while the
mode presented is the best the Executive can suggest, with his
present impressions, it must not be understood that no other
possible mode would be acceptable.

" Given under my hand at the City of Washington, the eighth
day of December, A. D. one thousand eight hundred and sixty-
three, and of the Independence of the United States of America
the eighty-eighth.

"By the President: "Abraham Lincoln.

" Wm. H. Seward, Secretary of State."

CALLS MADE FOR SEVEN HUNDRED
THOUSAND MEN.

Since the beginning of the present year, 1864, two orders
have been issued by the President, with a view of augment-
ing the armies of the Union to correspond with the require-
ments of the service. The first, dated February first, is as
follows :

" Executive Mansion, Washington, February 1st, 18G4. —
Ordered, that a draft for five hundred thousand men, to serve
three years or during the war, be made on the tenth of March
next, for the military service of the United States, crediting and
deducting therefrom so many as have been enlisted or drafted
into the service prior to the first day of March, and not hereto-
fore credited.

" (Signed) "Abraham Lincoln."

The other, dated March fourteenth, was worded as fol-
lows :

"Executive Mansion, Washington, March lAth, 1864. — In
order to supply the force required to be drafted for the navy, and to
provide an adequate reserve force for all contingencies, in addition
to the five hundred thousand men called for February 1st, 1864, the
call is hereby made, and a draft ordered for two hundred thou-
sand men, for the military service of the army, navy, and marine
corps of the United States. The proportionate quotas for the
different wards, towns, townships, precincts, election districts,
or counties will be made known through the Provost Marshal
General's bureau, and account will be taken of the credits and
deficiencies on former quotas. The loth day of April, 1864, is
designated as the time up to which the numbers required in each
ward of a city, town, etc., may be raised by voluntary enlist-
ment ; and drafts will be made in each ward of a city, town,

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 157

etc., which shall not have filled the quota assigned to it within
the time designated For the number required to fill the said
quotas. The draft will be commenced as soon after the loth of
April as practicable. The Government bounties, as now paid,
will be continued until April loth, 1864, at which time the ad-
ditional bounties cease. On and after that date, one hundred
dollars only will be paid, as provided by the act approved July
22nd, 1861. "Abraham Lincoln.

" Official. " E. D. Townsend, A. A. G. "

EXPLANATORY PROCLAMATION.
On the twenty-sixth of March, 1864, the following proc-
lamation, explanatory of the one issued on the eighth of
December, 1863, was published :

"Whereas, It has become necessary to define the cases in
which insurgent enemies are entitled to the benefits of the
Proclamation of the President of th^ United States, which was
made on the 8th day of December, 1863. and the manner in which
they shall proceed to avail themselves of these benefits ;

"And whereas, The object of that proclamation were to sup-
press the insurrection and to restore the authority of the United
States ;

"And whereas, The amnesty therein proposed by the Presi-
dent was offered with reference to these objects alone;

" Now, therefore, 1, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United
States, do hereby proclaim and declare that the said proclama-
tion does not apply to the cases of persons who, at the time when
they seek to obtain the benefits thereof, by taking the oath thereby
prescribed, are in military, naval or civil confinement or custody,
or under bonds or on parole of the civil, military or naval au-
thorities or agents of the United States, as prisoners of war, or
persons detained for offences of any kind, either before or after
conviction ; and that on the contrary, it does apply only to those
persons who, being at large and free from any arrest, confine
ment or duress, shall voluntarily come forward and take the said
oath, with the purpose of restoring peace and establishing the
national authority.

" Prisoners excluded from the amnesty offered in the said
proclamation may apply to the President for clemency, like all
other offenders, and their application will receive due con-
sideration.

" I do further declare and proclaim that the oath prescribed
in the aforesaid proclamation of the 8th of December, 1863,
may be taken and subscribed to before any commanding officer,
civil, military or naval, in the service of the United States, or
any civil or military officer of a State or territory not in insur-
rection, who, by the laws thereof, may be qualified for adminis-
tering oaths.

158 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

"All offic< is who receive such oaths are hereby authorized to
give certificates thereou to the persons respectively by whom
they are made, and such officers are hereby required to transmit
the original records of such oaths at as early a day as may be
convenient to the Department of State, where they will be de-
posited and remain in the archives of the government.

" The Secretary of State will keep a register thereof, and will,
on application, in proper cases, issue certificates of such records
in the customary form of official certificates.

" In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and
caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

" Done at the City of Washington, the twenty-sixth day of
March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred
and sixty-four, and of the Independence of the United State8
the eighty-eighth.

" By the President: "Avaaham Lincoln.

" Wm. H. Seward, Secretary of Stat.e"

REVIEW OF THE PRESIDENT'S POLICY.

In the number of the North American licuiew for
January, 1864, a most able article was published, review-
ing the policy of President Lincoln, and from it we make
the following extracts :

" ' Bare is back,' says the Norse proverb, ' without
brother behind it;' and this is, by analogy, true of an
elective magistracy. The hereditary ruler in any critical
emergency may reckon on the inexhaustible resources of
prestige, of sentiment, of superstition, of dependent inter-
est, while the new man must slowly and paiufully create
all these out of the unwilling material around him, by
superiority of character, by patient singleness of purpose,
by sagacious presentiment of popular tendencies and in-
stinctive sympathy with the national character. Mr. Lin-
coln's task was one of peculiar and exceptional difficulty.
Long habit had accustomed the American people to the
notion of a party in power, and of a President as its crea-
ture and organ, while the more vital fact, that the execu-
tive for the time being represents the abstract idea of
government as a permanent principle superior to all party
and all private interest, had gradually become unfamiliar
They bad so long aeen the public policy more or less

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 159

directed by views of party, and often even of personal ad-
vantage, as to be ready to suspect the motives of a chief
magistrate compelled, for the first time in our history, to
feel himself the head and hand of a great nation, and to act
upon the fundamental maxim, laid down by all publicists,
that the first duty of a government is to defend and main-
tain its own existence. Accordingly, a powerful weapon
seemed to be put into the hands of the opposition by the
necessity under which the administration found itself of
applying this old truth to new relations. They were not
slow in turning it to use, but the patriotism and common-
sense of the people were more than a match for any
sophistry of mere party. The radical mistake of the lead-
ers of the opposition was in forgetting that they had a
country, and expecting a similar obliviousness on the part
of the people. In the undisturbed possession of office for
so many years, they had come to consider the government
as a kind of public Gift Enterprise conducted by them-
selves, and whose profits were nominally to be shared
among the holders of their tickets, though all the prizes
had a trick of falling to the lot of the managers. Amid
the tumult of war, when the life of the nation was at stake,
when the principles of despotism and freedom were grap-
pling in deadly conflict, they had no higher conception of
the crisis than such as would serve the purpose of a con-
tested election ; no thought but of advertising the tickets
for the next drawing of that private speculation which
they miscalled the Democratic party. But they were too
little in sympathy with the American people to under-
stand them, or the motives by which they were governed.
It became more and more clear that, in embarrassing the
administration, their design was to cripple the country;
that, by a strict construction of the Constitution, they
meant nothing more than the locking up of the only
arsenal whence effective arms could be drawn to defend the
nation Fortunately, insincerity by its very nature, by
10

160 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

its neressary want of conviction, must ere long: betray
itself by its inconsistencies. It was hard to believe that
men had any real horror of sectional war, who were busy
in fomenting jealousies between East and West ; that they
could be in favor of a war for the Union as it was, who
were for accepting the violent amendments of Rebellion;
that they could be heartily opposed to insurrection in the
South, who threatened government with forcible resistance
in the North ; or that they were humanely anxious to stay
the effusion of blood, who did not scruple to stir up the
mob of our chief city to murder and arson, and to compli-
ment the patriotism of assassins with arms in their hands.
Believers, if they believed any thing, in the divine right
of Sham, they brought the petty engineering of the caucus
to cope with the resistless march of events, and hoped to
stay the steady drift of the nation's purpose, always set-
ting deeper and stronger in one direction, with the scoop-
nets that had served their turn so well in dipping fish from
the turbid eddies of politics. They have given an example
of the shortest and easiest way of reducing a great party
to an inconsiderable faction.

" The change which three years have brought about, is
too remarkable to be passed over without comment — too
weighty in its lesson not to be laid to heart. Never did
a President enter upon office with less means at his com-
mand, outside his own strength of heart and steadiness of
understanding, for inspiring confidence in the people, and
so winning it for himself, than Mr. Lincoln. All that was
known of him was that he was a good stump-speaker,
nominated for his availability — that is, because he had no
history — and chosen by a party with whose more extreme
opin 3ns he was not in sympathy. It might well be feared
that i man past fifty, against whom the ingenuity of hos-
tile partisans could rake up no accusation, must be lacking
in manliness of character, in decision of principle, in

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 161

strength of will, — that a man who was at best only the
representative of a party, and who yet did not fairly re-
present even that — would fail of political, much more of
popular support. And certainly no one ever entered upon
office with so few resources of power in the past, and so
many materials of weakness in the present, as Mr. Lin-
coln. Even in that half of the Union which acknowledged
him as President, there was a large, and at that time dan-
gerous minority, that hardly admitted his claim to the
office, and even in the party that elected him there was
also a large minority that suspected him of being secretly
a communicant with the church of Laodicea. All that he
did was sure to be virulently attacked as ultra by one side ;
all that he left undone, to be stigmatized as proof of luke-
warmness and backsliding by the other. Meanwhile he
was to carry on a truly colossal war by means of both ; he
was to disengage the country from diplomatic entangle-
ments of unprecedented peril undisturbed by the help or
the hinderance of either, and to win from the crowning
dangers of his administration, in the confidence of the
people, the means of his safety and their own. He has
contrived to do it, and perhaps none of our Presidents
since Washington has stood so firm in the confidence of
the people as he does after three years of stormy admin-
istration.

" Mr. Lincoln's policy was a tentative one, and rightly
so. He laid down no programme which must compel
him to be either inconsistent or unwise — no cast-iron
theorem to which circumstances must be fitted as they
rose, or else be useless to his ends. He seemed to have
chosen Mazarin's motto, Le temjys et moi. The moi, to
be sure, was not very prominent at first ; but it has grown
more and more so, till the world is beginning to be per-
suaded that it stands for a character of marked individu-
ality and capacity for affairs. Time was his prime-ruin-

162 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

ister, and, we began to think at one period, his general-
in-chief also. At Bret he was so slow that he tired out
all those who see no evidence of progress but in blowing
up the engine ; then he was so fast, that he took the
breath away from those who think there is no getting on
safely while there is a spark of fire under the boilers. God
is the only being who has time enough ; but a prudent
man, who knows how to seize occasion, can commonly
make a shift to find as much as he needs. Mr. Lincoln,
as it seems to us in reviewing his career, though we have
sometimes in our impatience thought otherwise, has al-
ways waited, as a wise man should, till the right moment
brought up all his reserves. Semper nocv.it differre par-
atis is a sound axiom, but the really efficacious man will
also be sure to know when he is not ready, and be firm
apainst all persuasion and reproach till he is.

" One would be apt to think, from some of the criticisms
made on Mr. Lincoln's course by those who mainly agree
with him in principle, that the chief object of a statesman
should be rather to proclaim his adhesion to certain doc-
trines than to achieve their triumph by quietly accom-
plishing his ends. In our opinion, there is no more unsafe
politician than a conscientiously rigid doctrinaire, nothing
more sure to end in disaster than a theoretic scheme of
policy that admits of no pliability for contingencies. True,
there is a popular image of an impossible He, in whose
plastic hands the submissive destinies of mankind become
as wax, and to whose commanding necessity the toughest
facts yield with the graceful pliancy of fiction ; but in real
life we commonly find that the men who control circum-
stances, as it is called, are those who have learned to
allow for the influence of their eddies, and have the nerve
to turn them to account at the happy instant. Mr. Lin-
coln's perilous task has been to carry a rather shackly
raft through the rapids, making fast the unrulier logs as

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 163

he could snatch opportunity ; and the country is to be
congratulated that he did not think it his duty to run
Straight at all hazards, bat cautiously to assure himself
with his setting-pole where the main current was, and
keep steadily to that. He is still in wild water, but we
have faith that his skill and sureness of eye will bring him
out right at last.

" A curious, and, as we think, not inapt parallel might
be drawn between Mr. Lincoln aad one of the most
striking figures in modern history — Henry IY. of France.
The career of the latter may be more picturesque, as thai
of a daring captain always is ; but, in all its vicissitudesr
there is nothing more romantic than that sudden change,
as by a rub of Aladdin's lamp, from the attorney's office
in a country town of Illinois to the helm of a great nation
in times like these. The analogy between the characters
and circumstances of the two men is, in many respects,
singularly close. Succeeding to a rebellion rather than a
crown, Henry's chief material dependence was the Hugue-
not party, wrhose doctrines sat upon him with a looseness
distasteful certainly, if not suspicious, to the more fanati-
cal among them. King only in name over the greater
part of France, and with his capital barred against him,
it yet gradually became clear to the more far-seeing even
of the Catholic party, that he was the only centre of order
and legitimate authority round wrhich France could re-
organize itself. While preachers wiio held the divine
right of kings made the churches of Paris ring with decla-
mations in favor of democracy rather than submit to the
heretic dog of a Bearnois — much as our soi-disant Demo-
crats have lately been preaching the divine right of
slavery, and denouncing the heresies of the Declaration
of Independence — Henry bore both parties in hand till he
was convinced that only one course of action could pos-
sibly combine his own interests aud those of France

164 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

Meanwhile the Protestants believed somewhat doubtfully
thai la- was theirs, the Catholics hoped somewhat doubt-
fully that he would be theirs, and Henry himself turned
aside remonstrance, advice, and curiosity alike with a
jest or a proverb, (if a little high, he liked them none the
worse,) joking continually, as his manner was. We have
q Mr. Lincoln contemptuously compared to iSaucho
Panza by persons incapable of appreciating one of the
deepest pieces of wisdom in the prolbundest romance ever
written — namely, that, while Don Quixote was incompa-
rable in theoretic and ideal statesmanship, Sancho, with
his stock of proverbs, the ready-money of human experi-
ence, made the best possible practical governor. Henry
IV. was as full of wise saws and modern instances as Mr.
Lincoln, but beneath all this was the thoughtful, practi-
cal, humane, and thoroughly earnest man, around whom
the fragments of France were to gather themselves till
she took her place again as a planet of the first magnitude
in the European system. In one respect Mr. Lincoln was
more fortunate than Henry. However some may think
him wanting in zeal, the most fanatical can find no taint
of apostasy in any measure of his, nor can the most bitter
charge him with being influenced by motives of personal
interest. The leading distinction between the policies of
the two is one of circumstances. Henry went over to
the nation ; Mr. Lincoln has steadily drawn the natiou
over to him. One left a united France ; the other, we
hope and believe, will leave a re-united America. We
leave our readers to trace the further points of difference
and resemblance for themselves, merely suggesting a gen-
eral similarity which has often occurred to us. One only
point of melancholy interest we will allow ourselves to
touch upon. That Mr. Lincoln is not handsome nor ele-
gant, we learn from certain English tourists who would
consider similar revelations in regard to Queen Victoria

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 165

as thoroughly American in their want of bienseance. It
is no concern of ours, nor does it affect his fitness for the
high place he so worthily occupies ; but he is certainly
as fortunate as Henry in the matter of good looks, if we
may trust contemporary evidence. Mr. Lincoln has also
been reproached with Americanism by some not unfriendly
British critics ; but, with all deference, we cannot say
that we like him any the worse for it, or see in it any
t-eason why he should govern Americans the less wisely.

11 The most perplexing complications that Mr. Lincoln's
government has had to deal with have been the danger
of rupture with the two leading commercial countries of
Europe, and the treatment of the slavery question. In
regard to the former, the peril may be considered as
nearly past, and the latter has been withdrawing steadily,
ever since the war began, from the noisy debating-ground
of faction to the quieter region of practical solution by
• onvincingness of facts and consequent advance of opinion
which we are content to call Fate.

" Even so long ago as when Mr. Lincoln, not yet con-
rinced of the danger and magnitude of the crisis, was en-
deavoring to persuade himself of Union majorities at the
South, and to carry on a war that was half peace in the
hope of a peace that would have been all war, — while he
was still enforcing the Fugitive Slave Law, under some
theory that Secession, however it might absolve States
from their obligations, could not escheat them of their
claims under the Constitution, and that slaveholders in
rebellion had alone among mortals the privilege of having
their cake and eating it at the same time, — the enemies of
free government were striving to persuade the people
that the war was an Abolition crusade. To rebel with-
out reason was proclaimed as one of the rights of man,
while it was carefully kept out of sight that to suppress
rebellion is the first duty of government. All the evils

166 LIFE AND SERVICES OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

that have come upon the country have beon attributed to
the Abolitionists, though it is hard to see how any party
can become permanently powerful except in one of two
ways. — either by the greater truth of its principles, or the
extravagance of the party opposed to it. To fancy the
ship of state, riding sate at her constitutional moorings,
suddenly engulfed by a huge kraken of Abolitionism,
rising from unknown depths and grasping it with slimy
tentacles, is to look at the natural history of the matter
with the eyes of Pontoppidan. To believe that the
leaders in the Southern treason feared any danger from
Abolitionism, would be to deny them ordinary intelli-
gence, though there can be little doubt that they made
use of it to stir the passions and excite the fears of their
deluded accomplices. They rebelled, not because they
thought slavery weak, but because they believed it strong
enough, not to overthrow the government, but to get pos-
session of it; for it becomes daily clearer that they used
rebellion only as a means of revolution, and if they got
revolution, though not in the shape they looked for, is the
American people to save them from its consequences at
the cost of its own existence ? The election of Mr. Lin-
coln, which it was clearly in their power to prevent had
they wished, was the occasion merely, and not the cause,
of their revolt. Abolitionism, till within a year or two,
was the despised heresy of a few earnest persons, without
political weight enough to carry the election of a parish
constable; and their cardinal principle was disunion, be-
cause they were convinced that within the Union the
position of slavery was impregnable. In spite of the
pioverb, great effects d<> not follow from small causes, — ■
that is, disproportionately small, — but from adequate
causes acting under certain required conditions. To con-
trast the size of the oak with that of the parent acorn, as
if the poor seed had paid all costs from its slender stroug

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 167

box, may serve for a child's wonder ; but the real miracle
lies in that divine league which bound all the forces of
nature to the service of the tiny germ in fulfilling its
destiny. Every thing has been at work for the past ten
years in the cause of antislavery, but Garrison and
Phillips have been far less successful propagandists than
the slaveholders themselves, with the constantly-growing
arrogance of their pretensions and encroachments. They
have forced the question upon the attention of every voter
in the Free States, by defiantly putting freedom and de-
mocracy on the defensive. But, even after the Kansas
outrages, there was no wide-spread desire on the part of
the North to commit aggressions, though there was a
growing determination to resist them. The popular
unanimity in favor of the war three years ago was but in
small measure the result of antislavery sentiment, far less
of any zeal for abolition. But every month of the war,
every movement of the allies of slavery in the Free
States, has been making Abolitionists by the thousands.
The masses of any people, however intelligent, are very
little moved by abstract principles of humanity and jus-
tice, until those principles are interpreted for them by the
stinging commentary of some infringement upon their own
rights, and then their instincts and passions, once aroused,
do indeed derive an incalculable reinforcement of impulse
and intensity from those higher ideas, those sublime tra-
ditions, which have no motive political force till they are
allied with a sense of immediate personal wrong or im-
minent peril. Then at last the stars in their courses be-
gin to fight against Sisera. Had any one doubted before
that the rights of human nature are unitary, that oppres-
sion is of one hue the world over, no matter what the
color of the oppressed, — had any one failed to see what
the real essence of the contest was, — the efforts of the ad-
vocates of slavery among ourselves to throw discredit upon

168 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

the fundamental axioms of the Declaration of Independence
and the radical doctrines of Christianity, could not fail to
sharpen his eyes. This quarrel, it is plain, is not between
Northern fanaticism and Southern institutions, but be-
tween downright slavery and upright freedom, between
despotism and democracy, between the Old World and
the New.

" The progress of three years has outstripped the ex-
pectation of the most sanguine, and that of our arms,
great as it undoubtedly is, is trifling in comparison with
the advance of opiniou. The great strength of slavery
was a superstition, which is fast losing its hold on the
public mind. When it was first proposed to raise negro
regiments, there were many even patriotic men who felt
as the West Saxons did at seeing their high priest hurl
his lance against the temple of their idol. They were sure
something terrible, the}' knew not what, would follow.
But the earth stood firm, the heavens gave no sign, and
presently they joined in making a bonfire of their bugbear.
That we should employ the material of the rebellion for its
own destruction, seems now the merest truism. In the same
way men's minds are growing wonted to the thought of
emancipation ; and great as are the difficulties which must
necessarily accompany and follow so vast a measure, we
have no doubt that they will be successfully overcome.
The point of interest and importance is, that the feeling of
our country in regard to slavery is no whim of sentiment,
but a settled conviction, and that the tendency of opinion
is unmistakably and irrevocably in one direction, no leas
in the Border Slave States than in the Free. The chances
of the war, which at one time seemed against us, are now
greatly in our favor. The nation is more thoroughly
united against any shameful or illusory peace than it ever
was on any other 'question, and the very extent of the ter-
ritory to be subdued, which was the most serious cause of

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 169

misgiving, is no longer an element of strength, but of dis-
integration, to the conspiracy. The Rebel leaders can
make no concessions ; the country is unanimously resolved
that the war shall be prosecuted, at whatever cost ; and if
the war go on, will it leave slavery with any formidable
strength in the South ? and without that, need there be any
fear of effective opposition in the North ?

" While every day was bringing the people nearer to the
conclusion which all thinking men saw to be inevitable
from the beginning, it was wise in Mr. Lincoln to leave
the shaping of his policy to events. In this country,
where the rough and ready understanding of the people
is sure at last to be the controlling power, a profound
common-sense is the best genius for statesmanship.
Hitherto the wisdom of the President's measures has
been justified by the fact that they have always resulted
in more firmly uniting public opinion. It is a curious
comment on the sincerity of political professions, that the
party calling itself Democratic should have been the last
to recognize the real movement and tendency of the
popular mind. The same gentlemen who two years ago
were introducing resolutions in Congress against coercion,
are introducing them now in favor of the war, but against
subjugation. Next year they may be in favor of emanci-
pation, but against abolition. It does not seem to have
occurred to them that the one point of difference between
a civil and a foreign war is, that in the former, one of the
parties must by the very nature of the case be put down,
and the other left in possession of the government. Un-
less the country is to be divided, no compromise is possible,
and, if one side must yield, shall it be the nation or the
conspirators ? A government may make, and any wise
government would make, concessions to men who have
risen against real grievances ; but to make them in favor
of a rebellion that had no juster cause than the personal

170 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN,

ambition of a few bad men, would be to abdicate.
Southern politicians, however, have always been so
dexterous in drawing nice distinctions, that they may
find some consolation inappreciable by obtuser minds in
being coerced instead of subjugated.

"If Mr. Lincoln continue to act with the firmness and
prudence which have hitherto distinguished him, we think
he has little to fear from the efforts of the opposition.
Men without sincere convictions are hardly likely to have
a well-defined and settled policy, and the blunders they
have hitherto committed must make them cautious. If
their personal hostility to the President be unabated, we
may safely count on their leniency to the opinion of
majorities, and the drift of public sentiment is too strong
to be mistaken. They have at last discovered that there
is such a thing as Country, which has a meaning for
men's minds and a hold upon their hearts; they may
make the further discovery, that this is a revolution that
has been forced on us, and not merely a civil war. In
any event, an opposition is a wholesome thing ; and we
are only sorry that this is not a more wholesome opposi-
tion.

" We believe it is the general judgment of the country
on the acts of the present administration, that they have
been, in the main, judicious and well-timed. The only
doubt about some of them seems to be as to their con-
stitutionality. It has been sometimes objected to our
form of government, that it was faulty in having a writ-
ten constitution which could not adapt itself to the needs
of the time as they arose. But we think it rather a
theoretic than a practical objection ; for in point of
fact there has been hardly a leading measure of any
administration that has not been attacked as uncon-
stitutional, and which was not carried nevertheless.
Purchase of Louisiana, Embargo, Removal of the De-

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 171

posits, Annexation of Texas, not to speak of others less
important, — on the unconstitutionality of all these, power-
ful parties have appealed to the country, and invariably
the decision has been against them. The will of the
people for the time being has always carried it. In the
present instance, we purposely refrain from any allusion
to the moral aspects of the question. We prefer to leave
the issue to experience and common-sense. Has any sane
man ever doubted on which side the chances were in this
contest? Can any sane man who has watched the steady
advances of opinion, forced onward slowly by the im-
mitigable logic of facts, doubt what the decision of the
people will be in this matter ? The Southern conspira-
tors have played a desperate stake, and, if they had won,
would have bent the whole policy of the country to the
interests of slavery. Filibustering would have been
nationalized, and the slave-trade re-established as the most
beneficent form of missionary enterprise. But if they
lose ? They have, of their own choice, put the chance
into our hands of making this continent the empire of a
great homogeneous population, substantially one in race,
language, and religion, — the most prosperous and power-
ful of nations. Is there a doubt what the decision of a
victorious people will be ? If we were base enough to
decline the great commission which Destiny lays on us,
should we not deserve to be ranked with those dastards
whom the stern Florentine condemns as hateful alike to
God and God's enemies ?

"We would not be understood as speaking lightly of the
respect due to constitutional forms, all the more essential
under a government like ours and in times like these. But
where undue respect for the form will lose us the substance,
and where the substance, as in this case, is nothing less
than the country itself, to be over-scrupulous would be
unwise. Who are most tender in their solicitude that we

172 LIFE AND SKRVICKS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

keep sacred the letter of the law, in order that its spirit
may not keep us alive ? Mr. Jefferson Davis and those
who, in the Free States, would have been his associates,
but must conteut themselves with being his political
guerilleros. If Davis had succeeded, would he have had
any scruples of constitutional delicacy ? And if he baa
not succeeded, is it not mainly owing to measures which
his disappointed partisans denounce as unconstitutional ?

"We cannot bring ourselves to think that Mr. Lincoln
nas done any thing that would furnish a precedent dan-
gerous to our liberties, or in any way overstepped the
just limits of his constitutional discretion. If his course
has been unusual, it was because the danger was equally
so. It cannot be so truly said that he has strained his
prerogative, as that the imperious necessity has exercised
its own. Surely the framers of the Constitution never
dreamed that they were making a strait waistcoat, in
which the nation was to lie helpless while traitors were
left free to do their will. In times like these, men seldom
settle precisely the principles on which they shall act, but
rather adjust those on which they have acted to the lines
of precedent as well as they can after the event. This is
what the English Parliament did in the Act of Settlement.
Congress, after all, will only be called on for the official
draft of an enactment, the terms of which have been
already decided by agencies beyond their control. Even
while they are debating, the curreut is sweeping them
onward toward new relations of policy. At worst, a new
precedent is pretty sure of pardon, if it successfully meet
a new occasion. It is a harmless pleasantry to call Mr.
Lincoln ' Abraham the First,' — we remember when a
similar title was applied to President Jackson; and it
will not be easy, we suspect, to persuade a people who
have more liberty than they know what to do with, that
they are the victims of despotic tyranny.

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 173

" Mr. Lincoln probably thought it more convenient, to
say the least, to have a country left without a constitution,
than a constitution without a country. We have no doubt
we shall save both ; for if we take care of the one, the
other will take care of itself. Sensible men, and it is the
sensible men in any country who at last shape its policy,
"will be apt to doubt whether it is true conservatism, after
the fire is got under, to insist on keeping up the flaw in
the chimney by which it made its way into the house.
Radicalism may be a very dangerous thing, and so is
calomel, but not when it is the only means of saving the
life of the patient. Names are of great influence in ordi-
nary times, when they are backed by the vis inertice of
life-long prejudice, but they have little power in com-
parison with a sense of interest; and though, in peaceful
times, it may be highly respectable to be conservative
merely for the sake of being so, though without very
clear notions of any thing in particular to be conserved,
what we want now is the prompt decision that will not
hesitate between the bale of silk and the ship when a leak
is to be stopped. If we succeed in saving the great land-
marks of freedom, there will be no difficulty in settling our
constitutional boundaries again. We have no sympathy
to spare for the pretended anxieties of men who, only two
years gone, were willing that Jefferson Davis should
break all the ten commandments together, and would
now impeach Mr. Lincoln for a scratch on the surface of
the tables where they are engraved."

As soon as the publication was received and read by
the President, he sent to the publishers the following
letter :

" Executive Mansion. Washington, January l&th, 18G4.
tl Messrs. Crosby Sr Nichols:

" Gentlemen : The number for this month and year of the
North American Review was duly received and for which please
accept my thanks. Of course I am not the most impartial

174 LIFE AND SKRVJCKS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

judge ; yet, with due allowance for this, I venture to hope that
the article entitled 'The President's Policy' will be of value
to the country. 1 fear 1 am not quite worthy of all which ia
therein kindly said of me personally.

" The sentence of twelve lines, commencing at the top of pane
252, (which in this book is on page 165.) I could wish to be not
exactly as it is. In what is there expressed the writer has not
correctly understood me. 1 have never had a theory that seces-
sion could absolve States or people from their obligations. Pre-
cisely the contrary is asserted in the inaugural address; and it
was because of my belief in the continuation of those obligaii >?is
that 1 was puzzled, for a time, as to denying the legal riyhte of
those citizens who remained individually innocent of treason or
rebellion. But I mean no more now than to merely call atten-
tion to this point.

" Yours respectfully,

"A. Lincoln."

The sentence referred to by Mr. Lincoln, is as follows :
" Even so long ago as when Mr. Lincoln, not yet con-
vinced of the danger and magnitude of the crisis, was
endeavoring to persuade himself of Union majorities at
the South, and to carry on a war that was half peace, in
the hope of a peace that would have been all war, while
he was still enforcing the Fugitive Slave law, under
some theory that secession, however it might absolve
States from their obligations, could not escheat them of
their claims under the constitution, and that slaveholders
in rebellion had alone among mortals, the privilege of
having their cake and eating it at the same time, — the
enemies of free government were striving to persuade the
people that the war was an abolition crusade. To rebel
without reason was proclaimed as one of the rights of man,
while it was carefully kept out of sight that to Buppresa
rebellion is the first duty of government. "

RECENT ADDRESSES OF MR. LINCOLN.

On the night of the eighteenth of March, 18C>4. at the
close of the successful fair held in the Patent Office of,
Washington, Mr. Lincoln spoke as follows:

" Ladies and Gentlemen : — I appear, to say but a word. This

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 175

extraordinary war in which we are engaged falls heavily upon all
classes of people, but the most heavily upon the soldier. For it
has been said, all that a man hath will he give for his life ; and,
while all contribute of their substance, the soldier puts his life
at stake, and often yields it up in his country's cause. The high-
est merit, then, is due to the soldier.

" In this extraordinary war, extraordinary developments have
manifested themselves, such as have not been seen in former
wars ; and among these manifestations nothing has been more
remarkable than these fairs for the relief of suffering soldiers
and their families. And the chief agents in these fairs are the
women of America. I am not accustomed to the use of the
language of eulogy ; I have never studied the art of paying
compliments to women ; but I must say that, if all that has been
said by orators and poets, since the creation of the world, in
praise of women were applied to the women of America, it would
not do them justice for their conduct during this war. I will
close by saying, God bless the women of America!" (Great
applause.)

Three days later, a committee appointed by the Work-
ingmen's Democratic Republican Association of New-
York waited on the President, and presented him with an
address informing him that he had been elected a member
of that organization. After the chairman had stated the
object of the visit, Mr. Lincoln made the following reply :

"Gentlemen of the Committee : — The honorary membership in
your Association so generously tendered is gratefully accepted.
You comprehend, as your address shows, that the existing re-
bellion meaus more and tends to more than the perpetuation of
African slavery — that it ;'b, in fact, a war upon the rights of all
working people. Partly to show that the view has not escaped
my attention, and partly that I cannot better express myself, I
read a passage from the message to Congress in December, 1861:

" ' It continues to develop that the insurrection is largely, if
not exclusively, a war upon the first principle of popular Gov-
ernment— the rights of the people. Conclusive evidence of this
is found in the most grave and maturely-considered public docu-
ments, as well as in the general tone of the insurgents. In those
documents we find the abridgement of the existing right of suf-
frage, and the denial to the people of all right to participate in
the selection of public officers, except the legislative body, boldly
advocated with labored arguments, to prove that large control
of the people in government is the source of all political evil.
Monarchy is sometimes hinted at as a possible retuge from the
power of the people. In my present position, I could scarcely

176 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

be justified were I to omit raisiDg my voice against this approach
of returning despotism.

11 ' It is not needed or fitting here that a general argument
should be made in favor of popular institutions ; but there is one
point, with its connections, uot so hackneyed as most others, to
which I ask a brief attention. It is the effort to place capital
on an equal footing with, if not above, labor in the structure of
the Government. It is assumed that labor is available only in
connection with capital ; that nobody labors unless somebody
else owning capital somehow, by use of it, induces him to labor.

" ' This assumed, it is next considered whether it is best that
capital shall hire laborers, and thus induce them to work by their
own consent, or buy them and drive them to it without their
oonsent. Having proceeded so far, it is naturally concluded
that all laborers are either hired laborers or what we call slaves.
And, further, it is assumed that whoever is once a hired laborer
is fixed in that condition for life. Now there is no such relation
between capital and labor as assumed, nor is there any such
thing as a free man being fixed for life in the condition of a
hired laborer. Both of these assumptions are false, and all infer-
ences from them are groundless.

"'Labor is prior to and independent of capital. Capital ia
only the fruit of labor, and never could have existed if labor had
not first existed. Labor is the support of capital, and deserves
much the higher consideration. Capital has its rights, which
are as worthy of protection as any other rights. Nor is it denied
that there is, and probably always will be, a relation between
labor and capital producing mutual benefits. The error is in
assuming that the whole labor of a community exists within that
relation. A few men own capital, and that few avoid labor
themselves, and with that capital hire or buy another few to
labor for them.

" 'A large majority belong to neither class — neither work
for others nor have others working for them. In most of the
Southern States a majority of the whole people, of all colors,
are neither slaves uor masters, while, in the Northern States, a
large majority arc neither hirers nor hired. Men with their
families — wives, sons, and daughters — work for themselves on
their farms, in their houses, and in their shops, taking the whole
product to themselves, and asking no favors of capital on the
one hand nor of hired laborers or slaves on the other. It is
not forgotten that a considerable number cf persons mingle their
own labor with capital — that is, they labor with their own hands
and also buy or hire others to labor for them ; but this is only a
mixed and not a distinct class. No principle stated is disturbed
by the existence of this mixed class.

" 'Again. As has already beeu said, there is not of necessity
any such thing as the free hired laborer being fixed to that con-
dition for klife. Many independent men everywhere in these

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 177

States, a few years back in their lives, were hired laborers. The
prudent, penniless beginner in the world labors for wages a while,
saves a surplus with which to buy tools or lands for himself, then
labors on his own account another while, and at length hires
another new beginner to help him. This is the just, and gener-
ous, and prosperous system which opens the way to all — gives
hope to all, and consequent energy, and progress, and improve-
ment to all. No men living are more worthy to be trusted than
those who toil up from poverty — none less inclined to take or
touch aught with which they have not honestly earned. Let
them beware of surrendering a political power which they already
possess, and which, if surrendered, will surely be used to close
the door of advancement against such as they, and to fix new
disabilities aud burdens upon them till all of liberty shall be
lost.'

" The views then expressed remain unchanged — nor have I
much to add. None are so deeply interested to resist the
present rebellion as the working people. Let them beware of
prejudices working disunion and hostility among themselves.
The most notable feature of a disturbance in your city last sum-
mer was the hanging of some working people by other working
people. It should never be so. The strongest bond of human
sympathy, outside of the family relation, should be one uniting
all working people, of all nations, tongues, and kindreds. Nor
should this lead to a war upou property or the owners of prop-
erty. Property is the fruit of labor; property is desirable;
is a positive good in the world. That some should be rich,
shows that others may become rich, aud hence is just encourage-
ment to industry and enterprise. Let not him who is houseless
pull down the house of another, but let him labor diligently and
Duild one for himself; thus, by example, assuring that his own
shall be safe from violence wheu built."

ABRAHAM LINCOLN THE CHOICE OF THE
PEOPLE FOR ANOTHER TERM.

Within the past few months, a movement has been in
progress throughout the North and West, which can but
be as gratifying to Abraham Lincoln as it is pleasing to
the great mass of the loyal voters of the country.

No President ever encountered the same difficulties
which have met the present incumbent of the " White
House" at every step he has taken since the day of his
inauguration. The traitors in the South have naturally
opposed every important order he has issued j have ridi-

178 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

culed every proclamation he has promulgated ; have criti-
cised and sneered at every message he has written ; and
have vilified and maligned the character of their author.
This was to be expected ; but there have been traitors at
the Xorth who have been no less bitter, no less strenuous
in their opposition ; but, under the guidance of Divine
Providence, he has been able to repel the assaults of both
of these classes of unprincipled advocates of treason ; and,
strong in his holy purpose to rescue the country from the
machinations of its enemies, he has continued steadfast in
the path of official duty. He may have made some mis-
takes, but they have been few, and it must be remembered
that even those which have been more particularly re-
ferred to by his opponents were caused, not by ignorance,
but by the exigencies of the occasion, which compelled
him to give an important answer, or issue an important
order, without being allowed the time for reflection which
the magnitude of the subject demanded.

The importance, indeed the absolute necessity, of re-
taining Mr. Lincoln in his present exalted position, is now
the popular belief, and from every loyal Commonwealth
come tidings, pronouncing in language which cannot be
mistaken, that he alone is deemed the proper person to
rescue the country from its present danger. The Legis-
latures of fifteen States have declared that he is their
choice and the choice of their constituents. Union
Leagues, Conventions, and public assemblies of different
political characters, have indorsed the decision of their
legislative bodies ; and the loyal people almost unani-
mously approve of the action which has again brought
Mr. Lincoln prominently forward as the best and only
man to nominate and elect to the Presidency. He has
been tried, and not found wanting, and no better return
for the perils encountered, the labors accomplished, and
the benefits derived to the country, could be offered, than

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 179

his re-nomination and re-election, both of which are now
almost as certain as that the Union Convention will assem-
ble at Baltimore in June next, and that the election will
be held in November. Maine, New Hampshire, Connec-
ticut, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Mary-
land, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minne-
sota, Kansas, and California, have spoken, and, at the
advent of the summer solstice, the other States will re-
echo the popular sentiments, as so emphatically expressed
by their sister Commonwealths. He is no longer the rep-
resentative of any particular political party, but comes
before the loyal voters of the country as an indefatigable,
incorruptible, public servant, whose multiform and per-
plexing duties have been faithfully performed, and who
has no other ambition than to so administer the affairs of
the nation as will be most conducive to its welfare.
Throughout his Presidential career he has never failed
to prove himself equal to any emergency that might oc-
cur. To use the words of a patriotic Philadelphian, even
in the darkest hour of our struggle, when every thing
seemed lost, and the feeling of despondency with regard
to the future was so great that those who had been con-
fident before lost all hope, he who was at the helm of
Government still maintained his self-command and a firm
reliance in an overruling Providence, which, in due time,
would order all things aright. Coolness, confidence, and
courage, are only valuable when they are needed ; and he
who has passed through ordeals in which the possession
of such qualities have been manifested, in no ordinary de-
gree, obtains a hold on the confidence of the world which
but few are fortunate enough to secure ; men of extraor-
dinary abilities, lacking these qualities, have, on great and
trying occasions, too often demonstrated their incapacity
for supreme command, like that which belongs to the head
of a great government. Considerations such as these will

180 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

make the people loth to part with one who, in the hour of
trial, has proved himself equal to the emergency.

As an evidence of the sentiment to which we have re-
ferred, we publish the following resolutions, unanimously
adopted by the Union League of Philadelphia, on the
eleventh of January, 1864:

"Whereas, The skill, courage, fidelity and integrity with
which, in a period of unparalleled trial, Abraham Lincoln has
conducted the administration of the National Government, have
won for him the highest esteem and the most affectionate regard
of his grateful countrymen ;

"And whereas, The confidence which all loyal men repose in
his honesty, his wisdom and his patriotism, should be proclaimed
on every suitable occasion, in order that his hands may be
strengthened for the important work he has yet to perform ;

"And whereas, The Union League of Philadelphia, composed
as it is, of those who, having formerly belonged to various
parties, in this juncture recognize no party but their country ;
and representing, as it does, all the industrial, mechanical, man-
ufacturing, commercial, financial, and professional interests
of the city, is especially qualified to give, in this behalf, an
unbiased and authentic utterance to the public sentiment;
therefore,

"Resolved, That to the prudence, sagacity, comprehension
and perseverance of Mr. Lincoln, under the guidance of a benign
Providence, the nation is more indebted for the grand results of
the war, which southern rebels have wickedly waged against
liberty and the Union, than to any other single instrumentality;
and that he is justly entitled to whatever reward it is in the
power of the nation to bestow.

"Resolved, That we cordially approve of the policy which
Mr. Lincoln has adopted and pursued, as well the principles he
has announced as the acts he has performed, and that we shall
continue to give an earnest and energetic support to the doc-
trines and measures by which his administration has thus far
been directed and illustrated.

"Resolved, That as Mr. Lincoln has had to endure the largest
share of the labor required to suppress the rebellion, now
rapidly verging to its close, he should also enjoy the largest
share of the honors which await those who have contended for
the right; and as, in all respects, he has shown pre-eminent
ability in fulfilling the requirements of his great office, we recog-
nize with pleasure the unmistakable indications of the popular
will in all the loyal States, and heartily join with our fellow-
citizens, without any distinction of party, here and elsewhere, in
presenting him as the People's candidate for the Presidency at
the approaching election.

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 181

"Resolved, That a Committee of Seventy-six be appointed,
whose duty it shall be to promote the object now proposed, by
correspondence with other loyal organizations, by stimulating
the expression of public opinion, and by whatever additional
modes shall, in their judgment, seem best adapted to the end ;
and that this Committee have power to supply vacancies in
their own body and to increase their numbers at their own dis-
cretion.

"Resolved, That a copy of these proceedings, properly en-
grossed and attested.be forwarded to President Lincoln; and
that they also be published in the loyal newspapers."

GENERAL GRANT MADE A LIEUTENANT-
GENERAL.

On the 2d of March, 1864, President Lincoln approved
a bill passed by Congress on the 26th of February, revi-
ving the grade of Lieutenant-General, and the same day he
nominated for that high office Major-General Grant, the
hero of Yicksburg, and on the same day the Senate unan-
imously confirmed the nomination. On the 9th of March,
General Grant, being upon official business at Washington,
was invited to the White House, where the President,
handing him his commission, addressed him as follows :

" General Grant : — The expression of the nation's approba-
tion of what you have already done, and its reliance on you for
what remains to do in the existing great struggle, is now pre-
sented with this commission, constituting you Lieutenant-Gen-
eral of the Army of the United States.

" With this high honor devolves on you an additional respon-
sibility. As the country herein trusts you, so, under God, it
will sustain you. I scarcely need add, that with what I here
speak for the country, goes my own hearty personal concur-
rence."

General Grant accepted the commission with character-
istic modesty, responding briefly and appropriately to the
remarks of the President.

A VIGOROUS PROSECUTION OF THE WAR.

In May, 1864, the President had approved the plans of
Lieutenant-General Grant; and the grand combinations
of the latter, looking to the breaking up of the Confederate

182 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

power, and the fall of Richmond, were put in motion
Sherman was at work in the South-west, and after taking
and destroying Atlanta, he designed marching directly
through the heart of Georgia, making Savann&h his first
objective point; and then, striking northward, he was to
compel the evacuation of Columbia, Charleston, and Wil-
mington, and co-operate with General Grant in tho
conquest of the rebel capital. Thomas was left in the
South-west to check, and if possible, destroy Hood and
Johnston ; while Grant, aided by the splendid genius and
fighting qualities of Meade, Sheridan, and Hancock, were
operating in the immediate vicinity of Richmond. The
plans were finally all carried out almost to the letter, and
General Grant telegraphed to the President, in May, that
he "proposed to fight it out on this line if it took all sum-
mer." These vast military operations, and the confidence
of the great mass of the people in the fidelity of the Pres-
ident, and in the skill of his generals, promoted a great
degree of confidence in the speedy ending of the war, with
an unconditional restoration of the authority of the Union.

MR. LINCOLN IS RE-NOMINATED FOR THE
PRESIDENCY.

On the 7th of June, 1864, the National Union Conven-
tion met at Baltimore. The re-nomination of Mr. Lincoln
for President of the United States was clearly foreshad-
owed, and the formal naming of him as the choice of the
people for a second term in his high office, was looked for
as a matter of course. He was re-nominated by acclama-
tion, and Andrew Johnson of Tennessee, who, like him-
self, was a self-made man, was nominated for the Vice-
Presidency. The platform of principles adopted by the
convention was brief and pithy. We transfer some per-
tinent extracts to our pages-

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 183

"Resolved, That it is the highest duty of every American citi-
zen to maintain against all their enemies the integrity of the
Union and the paramount authority of the Constitution and
laws of the United States ; and that, laying aside all differences
of political opinion, we pledge ourselves as Union men, animated
by a common sentiment, and aiming at a common object, to do
every thing in our power to aid the Government in quelling by
force of arms the rebellion now raging against its authority, and
in bringing to the punishment due to their crimes, the rebels
and traitors arrayed against it.

"Resolved, That we approve the determination of the Gov-
ernment of the United States not to compromise with rebels,
nor to offer any terms of peace except such as may be based
upon an ; unconditional surrender' of their hostility and a re
turn to their just allegiance to the Constitution and laws of the
United States, and that we call upon the Government to main-
tain this position and to prosecute the war with the utmost
possible vigor to the complete suppression of the Rebellion, in
full reliance upon the self-sacrifice, the patriotism, the heroic
valor, and the undying devotion of the American people to their
country and its free institutions.

"Resolved, That, as Slavery was the cause, and now constitutes
the strength, of this rebellion, and as it must be always and
everywhere hostile to the principles of republican government,
justice and the national safety demand its utter and complete
extirpation from the soil of the republic ; and that we uphold
and maintain the acts and proclamations by which the Govern-
ment, in its own defence, has aimed a death-blow at this gigan-
tic evil. We are in favor, furthermore, of such an amendment
to the Constitution, to be made by the people in conformity
with its provisions, as shall terminate and forever prohibit the
existence of Slavery within the limits of the jurisdiction of the
United States.

"Resolved, That we approve and applaud the practical wis
dom, the unselfish patriotism, and unswerving fidelity to the
Constitution and the principles of American liberty, with which
Abraham Lincoln has discharged, under circiTmstances of un-
paralleled difficulty, the great duties and responsibilities of the
presidential office ; that we approve and indorse, as demanded
by the emergency, and essential to the preservation of the
nation, and as within the Constitution, the measures and acts
which he has adopted to defend the nation against its open and
secret foes ; that we approve especially the Proclamation of
Emancipation, and the employment as Union soldiers of men
heretofore held in Slavery ; and that we have full confidence in
his determination to carry these and all other constitutional
measures essential to the salvation of the country into full and
complete effect."

184 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

On the 29th of August of the same year, the Democratic
Convention met at Chicago, and nominated George B.
McClellan and George H. Pendleton as its banner bearers.
General McClellan being named for the Presidency ana
Mr, Pendleton for the Tice-presidency. The platform of
the party, as laid down by this convention, set forth,
among other things, the following :

"Resolved, That this Convention does explicitly declare, as
the sense of the American people, that after four years of fail-
ure to restore the Union by the experiment of war, during
which, under the pretence of a military necessity of a war
power higher than the Constitution, the Constitution itself has
been disregarded in every part, and pubhc liberty and private
right alike trodden down, and the material prosperity of the
countiy essentially impaired ; justice, humanity, liberty, and the
public welfare, demand that immediate efforts be made for a
cessation of hostilities, with a view to an ultimate Convention
of all the States, or other peaceable means to the end that at
the earliest practicable moment peace may be restored on the
basis of the Federal Union of the States."

General McClellan, in his letter of acceptance to the
committee appointed by the Convention to notify him of
his nomination, virtually ignored the portion of the plat-
form given above, and he urged a vigorous prosecution of
the war. Much dissatisfaction in the Democratic party
grew out of the differences between the sentiments ex-
pressed by the platform and those of the principal candi-
date placed upon it, and for a time it seemed as though
the party would be wrecked in advance upon the rock of
these differences. Some of the leading peace men of the
party refused to support General McClellan, while the
War democracy denounced the platform in unmeasured
terras.

To use an expression of General McClellan's, the cam-
paign was " short, sharp, and decisive," and the candidates
of both parties came in for a liberal share of abuse and
ridicule.

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 185

PRESIDENT LINCOLN VT^TS PHILADELPHIA.

A series of monster fairs was held, in 1864, in the prin-
cipal cities of the Union, for the purpose of aidiug the funds
of the United States Sanitary Commission. Philadelphia
held her great fair in June, and on the sixteenth of the
month, the President and Mrs. Lincoln, paid a visit to the
fair buildings, in Logan square. There was a huge crowd
present for the purpose of gazing upon the features of their
beloved Chief Magistrate. After a collation had been
partaken of, Mr. Lincoln made a characteristic address.
In speaking of the war, he said :

" War, at the best, is terrible, and this war of ours, in its

magnitude and its duration, is one of the most terrible. It has

deranged business, totally in many localities, and partially in all

localities. It has destroyed property, and ruined homes ; it has

produced a national debt and taxation unprecedented, at least

in this country. It has carried mourning to almost every home,

until it can almost be said that the ' heavens are hung in black.'
*********

11 It is a pertinent question, often asked in the mind pri-
vately, and from one to the other, ' when is the war to end V
Surely I feel as deep an interest in this question as any other
can, but I do not wish to name a day, or month, or a year when
it is to end. I do not wish to run any risk of seeing the time
come, without our being ready for the end, and for fear of dis-
appointment because the time had come, and not the end. We
accepted this war for an object, a worthy object, and the war
will end when that object is attained. Under God, I hope it
never will until that time. [Great cheering.] Speaking of the
present campaign, Gen. Grant is reported to have said, 'I am go-
ing through on this line if it fakes all summer !' [Cheers.]
This war has taken three years ; it was begun, or accepted, upon
the line of restoring the national authority over the whole na-
tional domain — and for the American people, as far as my know-
ledge enables me to speak, I say, we are going through on this
line if it takes three years more. [Cheers.] My friends, I did not
know but that I might be called upon to say a few words before
I got away from here, but I did not know it was coming just
here. [Laughter.] I have never been in the habit of making
predictions in regard to the war, but I am almost tempted to
make one. If I were to hazard it, it is this : That Gr&nt is this
evening, with Gen. Meade and Gen. Hancock, of Pennsylvania,
and the brave officers and soldiers with him, in a position from

186 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

whence he will never be dislodged until Richmond is taken,
[loud cheering], and I have but one single proposition to put
now, and perhaps I can best put it in the form of an interroga-
tory. lfJ shall discover that (Jen. Grant, and the noble officers
and men under him, can be greatly facilitated in their work by a
sudden pouring forward of men and assistance, will you give
them to me? [Cries of 'Yes!'] Then, I say, stand ready,
for 1 am waiting for the chance. [Laughter "and cheers.] I
thank you, gentlemen."

The hint given by the President in his speech, was un-
derstood when a call was made the following month for
500,000 more men.

WASHINGTON THREATENED.
Towards the middle of July, 1864, rebel raiders, under
command of the traitor Breckinridge, audaciously threat-
ened Washington. They approached as near the capital
as Teuallytown, burned the residence of Postmaster Blair,
at Silver Springs, destroyed passenger trains on the rail-
road between Baltimore and the Susquehanna, and burnt
a large part of Chambersburg. President Lincoln re-
mained placidly in Washington during this exciting period.

"TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN."

While these stirring events were in progress near the
national capital, representations were made to President
Lincoln that certain parties, who professed to represent
the rebel government, were at the Clifton House, at
Niagara Falls, and anxious to enter into negotiations with
a view to the restoration of peace. Clement C. Clay,
Beverly Tucker, and George N. Sanders were the active
agents of the South in this business, and they succeeded
in persuading Mr. Horace Greeley that much good would
come of a conference. The project was doubtless a trick
to induce Mr. Lincoln to recognize the Southern Con-
federacy, and to trap him into a betrayal of Lis plans.
But the following manifesto issued by him overturned all
those hopes .

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 187

* Executive Masion, Washington, July 18, 1864. — To whom
it may concern : Any proposition which embraces the restora-
tion of peace, the integrity of the Union, and the abandonment
of slavery, and which comes by and with authority that can
control the armies now at war against the United States, will
be received and considered by the Executive Goverrraent of
the United States, and will be met by liberal terms on other
substantial and collateral points, and the bearers thereof shall
have safe conduct both ways. Abraham Lincoln."

Mr. Clay and Mr. Holcombe, who were among
the chief plenipotentiaries of Jefferson Davis, took high
offence at the tone and language of this paper, and they
responded to it in a tone of ill temper that evinced their
bitter disappointment at the failure of the trap set for the
feet of Mr. Lincoln. Their complaints had no other effect
than to make their authors ridiculous in the sight of the
world.

THE PALL OF ATLANTA.

In the month of September, 18G4, intelligence arrived of
the fall of Atlanta, and the President appointed a day of
Thanksgiving, for the success of an event that none who
were not in the secrets of the administration could have
imagined the importance of at that time.

MR. LINCOLN IS RE-ELECTED.

The Presidential election took place upon the eighth of
November, 1864, and it resulted in the triumph of Mr. Lin-
coln in every loyal State except Kentucky, New Jersey and
Delaware. In some of the States, their soldiers in the
field were allowed to vote, and the military vote wag
almost invariably cast for Lincoln and Johnson. The
official returns for the entire vote polled summed up
4,034,789. Of these Mr. Lincoln received 2,223,035,
and McClellan received 1,811,754, leaving a majority of
411,281 on the popular vote. Mr. Lincoln was elected
by a plurality in 1860. In 1864 his majority was decided
and unmistakable.

This result was considered a full endorsement of the

188 LIFE AND SERVICES 07 ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

policy of Mr. Lincoln, and the war was more vigorously
prosecuted from this time, many of its opponents being
at least silenced, if they were not convinced.

MR. LINCOLN MAKES A SPEECH UPON HIb
ELECTION.

At a late hour on the night of the election, the Presi-
dent was serenaded by a club of Pennsylvanians, who
notified him of the fact of his being the choice of the
people for a second term. He responded as follows :

"Friends and Fellow-Citizens: Even before I had been in-
formed by you that this compliment was paid me by loyul
citizens of Pennsylvania friendly to me, I had inferred that you
were of that portion of my countrymen who think that the
best interests of the nation are to be subserved by the support
of the present administration. I do not pretend to say that
you, who think so, embrace all the patriotism and loyalty of
the country ; but I do believe, and I trust without personal in-
terest, that the welfare of the country does require that such
support and endorsement be given. I earnestly believe that
the consequences of this day's work, if it be as you assume,
and as now seems probable, will be to the lasting advantage if
not to the very salvation of the country. I cannot, at this
hour, say what has been the result of the election, but what-
ever it may be, I have no desire to modify this opinion : that
all who have labored to-day in behalf of the Union organization,
have wrought for the best interest of their country and the
world, not only for the present but for all future ages. / am
thankful to God for this approval of the people; but while
deeply grateful for this mark of their confidence in me, if I
know my heart, my gratitude is free from any taint of per-
sonal triumph. I do not impugn the motives of any one op-
posed to me. It is no pleasure to me to triumph over any one,
but I give thanks to the Almighty for this evidence of the
people's resolution to stand by free government and the rights
of humanity

LAST ANNUAL MESSAGE OP MR. LINCOLN.
On the sixth of December, 1864, Mr. Lincoln sent into
Congress his last annual Message. After dwelling at
length upon our foreign relations, the state of the country,
and the results of the election, which had at once demon-
strated the strength of the people and their devotion to
the cause of the Union, he said :

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 189

" The public purpose to establish and maintain the national
authority, is unchanged, and, as we believe, unchangeable.
The manner of continuing the effort remains to choose. On
careful consideration of all the evidence accessible, it seems to
me that no attempt at negotiation with the insurgent leader
could result in any good. He would accept nothing short of
severance of the Union — precisely what we will not and cannot
give. His declarations to this effect are explicit and oft-
repeated. He does not attempt to deceive us. He affords us
no excuse to deceive ourselves. He cannot voluntarily re-
accept the Union. We cannot voluntarily yield it. Between
him and us the issue is distinct, single and inflexible. It is an
issue which can only be tried by war, and decided by victory.
If we yield we are beaten. If the Southern people fail him, he
is beaten. Either way, it would be the victory and defeat fol-
lowing war. What is true, however, of him who heads the
insurgent cause, is not necessarily true of those who follow.
Although he cannot re-accept the Union, they can. * * * *
In presenting the abandonment of armed resistance to the
National authority, on the part of the insurgents, as the only
indispensable condition to ending the war on the part of the
government, I retract nothing heretofore said as to slavery. I
repeat the declaration made a year ago, that while I remain in
my present position I shall not attempt to retract or modify
the Emancipation Proclamation, nor shall X return to slavery
any person who is free by the terms of thai proclamation or
by any of the acts of Congress. If the people should, by
whatever mode or means, make it an Executive duty to re-
enslave such persons, another, and not I, must bt their instru-
ment to perform it. In stating a single conditio?! of peace, I
mean simply to say that the war will cease on the part of the
government whenever it shall have ceased on the part of those
who began it."

MORE TROOPS WANTED.

On the 19th of December, 1864, a call was made for
300,000 more men to finish up the great work on hand in
the field.

MR. LINCOLN HAS AN INTERVIEW WITH
REBEL COMMISSIONERS.

In the early part of February, 1865, application was
made to the National Government for permission for
Messrs. A. H. Stephens of Georgia, R. M. T. Hunter of
Virginia, and J. A. Campbell of Alabama, to pass through
the Union lines as quasi commissioners from the rebel

190 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN".

government to treat for peace. Permission was granted,
with the understanding that the parties named were not
to be allowed to laud. This determination upon the part
of the Federal authorities caused much annoyance to the
rebel agents, as they made no secret of their desire W)
visit Washington. Mr. Seward met the distinguished
rebels named above, at Fortress Monroe. The Secretary
of State telegraphed for the President, and Mr. Lincoln
at once repaired to that point, where an interview was
had on board the steamer River Queen.

The conference lasted four hours, and was perfectly
friendly and good-tempered throughout. Xot a word was
said on either side indicating any but amicable sentiments.
On our side the conversation was mainly conducted by the
Presideut ; on theirs by Mr. Hunter, Mr. Stephens occa-
sionally taking part. The rebel commissioners said
nothing whatever of their personal views or wishes, but
spoke solely and exclusively for their government, and, at
the outset and throughout the conference, declared their
entire lack of authority to make, receive, or consider any
proposition whatever looking toward a close of the war,
except on the basis of a recognition of the independence
of the Confederate States as a preliminary condition. The
President presented the subject to them in every conceiva-
ble form, suggesting the most liberal and considerate mod-
ification of whatever, in the existing legislation and action
of the United States Government, might be regarded as
specially hostile to the rights and interests, or wounding
to the pride of the Southern people — but in no single par-
ticular could he induce them to swerve for a moment from
their demand for recognition. They did not present this
conspicuously as resting on their own convictions or
wishes, but as the condition which their government had
made absolutely indispensable to any negotiations or dis-
cussions whatever concerning peace.

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 191

President Lincoln, on the other hand, informed them,
at every point, that such recognition was utterly and
totally out of the question ; that the United States could
stop the war and arrest, even temporarily, the movement
of its armies, only on the condition precedent, that the
authority of the National Government should be recog-
nized and obeyed over the whole territory of the United
States. This point conceded, he assured them that upon
every other matter of difference they would be treated
with the utmost liberality ; but without that recognition
the war must and would go on.

All the conversation which took place between the re-
spective parties came back to, and turned upon, this radical
and irreconcilable difference. Neither side could be
swerved a hair's breadth from its position. And, there-
fore, the attempt at negotiation was an utter failure.
Upon separating, it was distinctly understood and explic-
itly stated that the attitude and action of each Govern-
ment was to be precisely what it would have been if this
interview had never taken place. So this negotiation
went for nought, and President Lincoln and Mr. Seward
returned to Washington ; while the discomfited rebel
commissioners made the best of their way back to Rich-
mond.

IS INAUGURATED PRESIDENT OE THE
UNITED STATES EOR A SECOND TERM.

On the fourth of March, 1865, Abraham Lincoln was
re-inaugurated President of the United States for a second
term of four years, the demonstrations on the occasion being
of the most imposing description. Arriving at the East
portico of the Capitol, the President, President-elect, took
a seat provided for him, and the other distinguished persons
filling the whole vast platform had places assigned to them.
The President, President-elect, then advanced to the front,
12

192 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN".

and Chief Justice Chase administered the oath of office,

which the President pronounced in a clear, solemn voice,

as follows : —

" I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office
of the President of the United States, and will, to the best of
my ability, protect and defend the Constitution of the United
States."

The President then delivered his Inaugural Address, as

follows :

INAUGURAL ADDRESS.

Fellow-Country men — At this second appearing to take the
oath of the Presidential office, there is less occasion for an ex-
tended address than there was at the first. Then a statement
somewhat in detail of a course to be pursued seemed fitting and
proper. Now, at the expiration of four years, during which
public declarations have been constantly called forth on every
point and phase of the great contest which still absorbs the
attention and engrosses the energy of the nation, little that is
new could be presented. The progress of our arms, upon which
all else chiefly depends, is as well known to the public as to
myself, and it is, I trust, reasonably satisfactory and encouraging
to all.

With high hope for the future, no prediction in regard to it is
ventured. On the occasion corresponding to this four years
ago, all thoughts were anxiously directed to an impending civil
war. All dreaded it. All sought to avert it.

While the Inaugural Address was being delivered from this
place, devoted altogether to the saving of the Union without
war, insurgent agents were in the city seeking to destroy it
without war — seeking to dissolve the Union aud divide the
effects by negotiation.

Both parties deprecated war, but one of them would make
war rather than let the nation survive ; and the other would
accept war rather than perish — and the war came. One-eighth
of the whole population were colored slaves, not distributed
generally over the Union, but localized iu the Southern part
of it.

These slaves constituted a peculiar and beneficial interest.
All knew that this interest was somehow the cause of the war.
To strengthen, perpetuate and extend this interest was the object
for which the insurgents would rend the Union even by war,
while the Government claimed no right to do more than to
restrict the territorial enlargement of it. Neither party ex-
pected for the war the magnitude nor the duration which it has
already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of the

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 193

conflict might cease with or even before the conflict itself should
cease. Each looked for an easier triumph and a result less
fundamental and astounding. Both read the same Bible and
pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the
other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a
just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of
other men's faces.

But let us judge not that we be not judged. The prayers of
both could not be answered ; that of neither has been answered
fully. The Almighty has His own purposes. "Woe unto the
world because of offences, for it must needs be that offences
come, but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh." If
we shall suppose that American slavery i:3 one of those offences
which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which,
having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to
remove and that He gives to both North and South this terrible
war as the woe due to those by whom the offence came, shall we
discern therein. any departure from these Divine attributes which
the believers in a loving God always ascribe to him ? Fondly do
we hope, fervently do we pray that this mighty scourge of war
may speedily pass away. Yet if God wills that it continue until
all the wealth piled by the bondman's two hundred and fifty
years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of
blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with
the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must
be said, " the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous
altogether."

With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in
the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up
the Nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the
battle and for his widow and his orphau, to do all which may
achieve and cherish a just and a lasting peace among ourselves
and with all nations.

PRESIDENT LINCOLN GOES TO "THE FRONT."

On the 24th of March, 1865, Mr. Lincoln went to "the
front," just as the lines of General Grant were being drawn
tighter and tighter around Richmond. He witnessed a
part of the assault upon Petersburg, and was at City Point
when Richmond fell into the possession of the Federal
forces on the 2d of April, 18 G5. He pushed on to the rebel
capital, held a levee in the mansion of the fugitive Jeffer-
son Davis, and left the same evening for City Point, re-
turning to Washington soon after.

194 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

GEN ERAL LEE SURRENDERS.

The fall of Richmond was followed speedily by the sur-
render of Lee. The terms of capitulation determined upon
are embraced in the following note from General Grant to
General Lee :

"Appomattox Court House, April 9th. — General Robert E.
Lee, Army C. S. — In accordance with the substance of my
letter to you of the 8th inst., I propose to receive the surrender
of the army of Northern Virginia on the following terms, to
wit: Rolls of all the officers and men to be made in duplicate,
one copy to be given to an officer designated by me, the other
to be retained by such officer or officers as you may designate,
the officers to give their individual paroles not to take up arms
against the Government of the United States until properly
exchanged, and each company or regimental commander to
sign a like parole for the men of their commands. The arms,
artillery, and public property to be parked and stacked, and
turned over to the officers appointed by me to receive them.
This will not embrace the side arms of the officers, nor their
private horses or baggage. This done, each officer and man
will be allowed to retiirn to their homes, not to be disturbed by
United States authority so long as they observe their parole
and the laws in force were they may reside.

" Very Respectfully, " U. S. Grant,

" Lieutenant- General."

These easy terms were accepted, and it is known that
President Lincoln, in dictating them, was actuated by a
kindly spirit of conciliation.

THE PRESIDENT RETURN'S TO WASHINGTON.

On the 11th of April, 1865, there was high rejoicing at
the National Capital. The public buildings were illuminated
at night, in honor of the great victories o^ the Union
arms, and the people were happy at the prospect of a
speedy peace. President Lincoln was serenaded at the
White House. The President made a responsive speech,
in substance as follows:

LIFE AND SERVICES OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 195

MR. LINCOLN'S LAST SPEECH.

" We meet this evening not in sorrow, but in gladness of
heart. The evacuation of Petersburg and Richmond, and the
surrender of the principal insurgent army, give hopes of a
righteous and speedy peace, whose joyous expression cannot be
restrained. In the midst of this, however, He from whom all
blessings flow must not be forgotten. A call for a national
thanksgiving is being prepared, and will be duly promulgated.
Nor mast those whose harder part gives us the cause of rejoic-
ing be overlooked. Their honors must not be parceled out with,
others. I myself was near the front, and had the high pleasure
of transmitting much of the good news to yon. But no part of
the honor or execution is mine. To General Grant, his skillful
officers and brave men, all belongs. The gallant navy stood
ready, but was not in reach to take active part. By these re-
cent successes the re-inauguration of the national authority —
reconstruction, which has had a large share of thought from
the first — is pressed much more closely upon our attention. It
is fraught with great difficulty. Unlike a war between indepen-
dent nations, there is no authorized organ for us to treat with.
No one man has authority to give up the rebellion for any other
man. We must simply begin with and mould from disorganized
and discordant elements.

" In the annual message of December, 1863. and the accom-
panying proclamation, I presented a plan of reconstruction, as
the phrase goes, which I promised, if adopted by any State,
would be acceptable to and sustained by the Executive Govern-
ment of the nation. I distinctly stated that this was not the
only plan which might, possibly, be acceptable ; and I also dis-
tinctly protested that the Executive claimed no right to say
when or whether members should be admitted to seats in Con-
gress from such States. This plan was in advance submitted
to the then cabinet, and approved by every member of it. One
of them suggested that 1 should then and in that connection
apply the Emancipation Proclamation to the theretofore ex-
cepted parts of Virginia and Louisiana, that I should drop the
suggestion about apprenticeship for freed people, and that I
should omit the protest against my own power in regard to the
admission of members of Congress. But even he approved
every part and parcel of the plan which has since been employed
or touched by the action of Louisiana. The new constitution
of Louisiana, declaring emancipation for the whole State, prac-
tically applies the proclamation to the part previously excepted.
It does not adopt apprenticeship for freed people, and is silent,
as it could not well be otherwise, about the admission of mem-
bers to Congress. So that, as it applied to Louisiana, every

196 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

member of the Cabinet fully approved the plan. The message
went to Congress, and 1 received many commendations of the
plan, written and verbal, and not a single objection to it, from
any professed emancipationist, came to my knowledge until
after the news reached Washington that the people of Louis-
iana had begun to move in accordance with it. From abou*
July, 1662, I had corresponded with different persons supposed
to be interested in seeking a reconstruction of a State Govern-
ment for Louisiana. When the message of 1863, with the plan
before mentioned, reached New Orleans, General Banks wrote
me that he was confident that the people, with his military co-
operation, would reconstruct substantially on that plan. I
wrote to him and some of them to try it. They tried it, and
the result is known. Such has been my only agency in getting
up the Louisiana government. As to sustaining it. my promise
is out, as before stated. But as bad promises are better broken
than kept. I shall treat this as a bad promise and break it when-
ever I shall be convinced that keepisg it is adverse to the public

interest; but I have not yet been so convinced.

********

" We all agree that the seceded States, so called, are out of
their proper practical relation with the Union, and that the
sole object of the government, civil and military, in regard to
those States, is to again get them into their proper practical
relation. I believe that it is not only possible, but, in fact,
easier, to do this without deciding, or even considering, whether
those States have ever been out of the Union, than with it.
Finding themselves safely at home, it would be utterly imma-
terial whether they had .been abroad. Let us all join in doing
the acts necessary to restore the proper practical relations
between those States and the nation, and each forever after
innocently indulge his own opinion whether in doing the acts
he brought the States from without into the Union, or only
gave them proper assistance, they never having been out of it.
The amount of constituency, so to speak, on which the Louisi-
ana Government rests, would be more satisfactory to all if it
contained 50,000, or 30,000, or even 20,000. instead of 12.000, as
it does. It is also unsatisfactory to some that the elective
franchise is not given to the colored man. 1 would myself
prefer that it were now conferred on the very intelligent, and
on those who serve our cause as soldiers. Still the question is
not whether the Louisiana government, as it stands, is quite all
that is desirable. The question is, will it be wiser to take it u
it is, and help to improve it, or to reject and disperse? Can
Louisiana be brought into proper practical relation with the
Union sooner by sustaining or by discarding her new State
government? Some twelve thousand voters in the heretofore
slave State of Louisiana ha*e sworn allegiance to the Union,
assumed to be the rightful political power of the State, held

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 197

elections, organized a State government, adopted a Free State
constitution, giving the benefit of public schools equally to
black and white, and empowering the legislature to confer the
elective franchise upon the colored man. This Legislature has
already voted to ratify the constitutional amendment recently
passed by Congress, abolishing slavery throughout the nation.
These twelve thousand persons are thus fully committed to the
Union and to perpetuate freedom in the State ; committed to
the very things, and nearly all things, the nation wants, and
they ask the nation's recognition and its assistance to make
good this committal. Now if we reject and spurn them, we do
our utmost to disorganize and disperse them. We in fact say
to the white man, you are worthless or worse ; we will neither
help you nor be helped by you. To the blacks we say : This
cup of liberty which these, your old masters, held to your lips,
we will dash from you, and leave you to the chances of gather-
ing the spilled and scattered contents in some vague and unde-
fined when, where, and how. If this course, discouraging and
paralyzing both white and black, has any tendency to bring
Louisiana into proper practical relations with the Union, I have
so far been unable to perceive it. If, on the contrary, we
recognize and sustain the new government of Louisiana, the
converse of all this is made true. "We encourage the hearts
and nerve the arms of 12,000 to adhere to their work, and argue
for it, and proselyte for it, and fight for it, and feed it, and grow
it, and ripen it to a complete success. The colored man, too,
in seeing all united for him, is inspired with vigilance, and
energy, and daring to the same end. Grant that he desires the
elective franchise, will he not attain it sooner by saving the
already advanced steps toward it, than by running backward
over them ? Concede that the new government of Louisiana
is to what it should be as the egg is to the fowl, we shall sooner
have the fowl by hatching the egg than by smashing it.

[Laughter.]

********

"Can Louisiana be brought into proper practical relation
with the Union sooner by sustaining or by discarding her new
State government ? What has been said of Louisiana will
apply to other States. And yet so great peculiarities pertain
to each State, and such important and sudden changes occur
in the same State, and withal so new and unprecedented is ihe
whole case, that no exclusive and inflexible plan can safely be
prescribed as to details and collaterals. Such exclusive and
inflexible plan would surely become a new entanglement. Im
portant principles may and must be inflexible. In the present
situation, as the phrase goes, it may be my duty to make some
new announcement to the people of the South. I am consider-
ing, and shall not fail to act when satisfied that action will be
proper."

198 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

PRESIDENT LINCOLN ASSASSINATED.

The Fourteenth of April, 1865, will ever be a
memorable day in the annals of America. It was fro
anniversary of the evacuation of Fort Sumter, in Charles-
ton harbor, by Major (now General) Anderson, four years
before, and upon that day the old flag was formally re-
stored.1 The masterly combinations of General Grant had
circumscribed the territory of rebellion to very contracted
limits. Sherman's wonderful march through Georgia,
from Atlanta to the sea-board, and then north through
South Carolina, had given us possession of the most im-
portant points inland ; while Savannah, Charleston, Col-
umbia, Wilmington, Petersburg and, finally, Richmond
itself, were added to the acquisitions resulting from the
splendid generalship of Grant, Sherman, and Sheridan. Lee
had surrendered. Jefferson Davis and his bogus government
were fugitives, and even Mobile had succumbed to the
national authority, although intelligence of the fact had
not yet reached the seat of government. There were
rejoicings every where in the loyal North. The Federal
authorities had put a sudden stop to the draft and to re-
cruiting, and the war was considered virtually at an end ;
only the dying embers of rebellion remaining to be
trampled out by the victorious generals of the republic.
President Lincoln had returned home to Washington from
his visit to the subjugated capital of rebellion, and he had
dated a dispatch from the residence of the fugitive arch-
traitor Davis. All was joy and happiness, which was
demonstrated by illuminations, displays of flags, addresses,
etc. But a terrible blow was in store for the nation, and
it came like a thunder-clap from a clear sky upon the ears
of the astounded people.

The President and General Grant had been invited to
attend Ford's theatre in Washington, on tho evening of

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 199

the fourteenth, and both had accepted the invitation.
General Grant was called off Xorth, and left Washington
during the evening. The President good-naturedly
attended the theatre lest the audience might be entirely
disappointed, in consequence of General Grant's absence,
and Mrs. Lincoln accompanied her illustrious husband.
About ten o'clock in the evening, while the play, " Our
American Cousin," was progressing, a stranger worked
his way into the proscenium box occupied by the presi-
dential party, and leveling a pistol close behind the head
of Mr. Lincoln, he fired, and the ball was lodged deep in
the brain of the President. The assassin then drew a
dirk, and cutting right and left with it, he sprang from the
box, flourishing the weapon aloft, and shouted as he
reached the stage the motto upon the escutcheon of the
State of Virginia, " Sic Semper Tyrannisf" The miscreant
dashed across the stage, and before the audience or the
actors could recover from their amazement and bewilder-
ment, or realize the real position of affairs, the murderer
had mounted a fleet horse in waiting in an alley in the
rear of the theatre, and galloping off, he escaped for a time.

The excitement growing out of the tragic event may
be imagined. In the midst of the uproar and confusion,
the wounded President was borne to a dwelling in the
vicinity, where he lingered in an unconscious condition
until twenty-two minutes past seven o'clock on the morn-
ing of the 15th, when he died. Vice-President Andrew
Johnson, of Tennessee, became President of the United
States upon the death of Mr. Lincoln, by the provisions
of the Constitution.

At about the same time that the fatal bullet was sped
at the life of the foremost man of the nation, an attempt
was made to murder Mr. William H. Seward, Secretary
of State, and his son Frederick, the Assistant Secretary
of State. The Secretary had been seriously hurt by

200 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

leaping from his carriage while being ran away with by
his frightened horses, and he was lying in a precarious
condition at his home, when a ruffian, who had obtained
access to the house by fraud, burst into the sick chamber,
stabbing the Secretary in the throat, and inflicting severe
wounds upon his son Frederick and others of his attend-
ants. The assassin escaped at the time, riding off upon
a horse, like the murderer of the President, but he was
subsequently secured.

The murderer of Mr. Lincoln was John Wilkes Booth,
an actor, and a native of Harford County, Maryland.
During the continuance of the rebellion he was an ardent
Secessionist, and he made no concealment of his warm
sympathy with armed treason. He had frequently threat-
ened to assassinate the President, and this threat was
executed in the tragic and dramatic manner described.
He was of course acting in collusion with the assassin
who attempted the lives of the Seward family.

WHAT BECAME OF BOOTH.

The assassin made his way on horseback into St. Mary's
county, where he lay concealed for some days, eluding his
pursuers, although the rewards for his capture amounted
in the aggregate to over one hundred thousand dollars.
It was, however, pretty conclusively ascertained that he
was in this locality, and parties of cavalry finally closed
in around him, so as to compel him to beat a retreat. He
worked his way across the Potomac and Rappahannock
rivers into Virginia, and on the morning of the 26th of
April, 1865, a party of Colonel Baker's cavalry, under
command of Lieutenant Dougherty, traced him to a barn
on the farm of Henry Garrett, between Bowling Green
and Port Royal, and near Fredericksburg, where, with an
accomplice named David C. Harrold, he was concealed.

The cavalry surrounded the barn, and called upon the

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 20 L

fugitives to surrender. Upon their refusing to do so, the
barn was set on fire, in the rear, and Harrold, coming out,
gave himself up as a prisoner. Booth refused to surrender,
and after theatrically- challenging the lieutenant and the
entire party of cavalrymen to combat, he prepared to fire
among them. Sergeant Boston Corbett immediately
leveled his piece and fired, shooting the wretched asssassin
in the head, and causing much such a wound as Booth
had inflicted upon the President less than two weeks
before. Booth lived for two or three hours after receiving
his wound. The body of the murderer, with the person
of Harrold, was at once removed to Washington.

THE FOURTEENTH OP APRIL, 1865.

As everything pertaining to the last hours of the late
President must be interesting to the public, the following
incidents of the last day of his life will not be deficient in
interest.

His son, Capt. Robert Lincoln, breakfasted with him
on Friday morning, having just returned from the capitu-
lation of Lee, and the President passed a happy hour
listening to all the details. While at breakfast he heard
that Speaker Colfax was in the house, and sent word that
he wished to see him immediately in the reception-room.
He conversed with him nearly an hour about his future
policy as to the rebellion, which he was about to submit to
the Cabinet. Afterwards he had an interview with
Mr. Hale, Minister to Spain, and several Senators and
Representatives. At eleven o'clock, the Cabinet and
Gen. Grant met with him, and in one of the most satis-
factory and important Cabinet meetings held since his
first inauguration, the future policy of the administration
was harmoniously and unanimously agreed on. When it
adjourned, Secretary Stanton said he felt that the govern-
ment was stronger than at any previous period since the
rebellion commenced. In the afternoon the President had

202 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

a long and pleasant interview with Gen. Oglesby, Senator
Yates, and other leading citizens of his State.

In the evening, Mr. Colfax called again, at his request,
and Mr. Ashmun, of Massachusetts, who presided over
the Chicago Convention of 18G0, was present. To them
he spoke of his visit to Richmond; and when they stated
that there was much uneasiness at the North while he
was at the rebel capital, for fear that some traitor might
shoot him, he replied, jocularly, that he would have been
alarmed himself if any other person had been President
and gone there, but that he did not feel any danger what-
ever. Conversing on a matter of business with Mr.
Ashmun, he made a remark that he saw Mr. Ashmun
was surprised at, and immediately, with his well-known
kindness of heart, said — "You did not understand me,
Ashmun, I did not mean what you inferred, and I will
take it all back and apologize for it." He afterward gave
Mr. Ashmun a card to admit himself and friend early the
next morning, to converse further about it. Turning to
Mr. Colfax, he said — " You are going with Mrs. Lincoln
and me to the theatre, I hope ?" But Mr. Colfax had
other engagements, expecting to leave the city the next
morning. He then said to Mr. Colfax — " Mr. Sumner
has the gavel of the Confederate Congress, which he got
at Richmond to hand to the Secretary of War. But I
insisted then that he must give it to you ; and you tell
him for me to hand it over." Mr. Ashmun alluded to the
gavel which he still had, and which he had used at the
Chicago Convention ; and the President and Mrs. Lincoln,
who was also in the parlor, rose to go to the theatre. It
was half an hour after the time they had intended to
start, and they spoke about waiting half an hour longer,
for the President went with reluctance. At the door he
stopped, and said — "Colfax, do not forget to tell the
people in the mining regions, as you pass through them,

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 203

what I told you this morning, about the development
when peace comes, and I will telegraph you at San
Francisco." He shook hands with both gentlemen, with
a pleasant good-bye, and left the Executive mansion
never to return to it alive.

THE EFFECT OF MR. LINCOLN'S DEATH.

Never, since the demise of Washington, was there so
profound a sensation as that caused by the murder of
President Lincoln. The telegraph conveyed the sad
tidings to the remotest part of the continent, and before
noon of the fifteenth, the nation was in tears from the
Potomac to the Aroostook, and from the Atlantic to the
Pacific. By common consent all business was suspended,
and while the merchants of Philadelphia, New York and
Boston, were closing their stores and draping their dwell-
ings in the habiliments of mourning, the people of San
Francisco were discussing the sad tidings and doing
funeral honors to the Martyr-President. The people and
authorities of the British Provinces of Canada, also
signified their deep regret at the tragic event that had
thrown the loyal States in tears ; while, in the rebel
States, the act of the assassin was spoken of by many
with horror and detestation.

The funeral of Mr. Lincoln took place at Washington,
on Wednesday, the 19th of April, 1865. It was attended
by the highest civil and military dignitaries, and by the
representatives of foreign governments. The remains
were placed in the rotunda of the capitol, where they lay
in state until the 21st, when they were started upon their
moarnful journey to Springfield, Illinois. They were
taken to the western home of the deceased President by
the route he pursued while on his way from the West to
Washington. Baltimore, Harrisburg, Philadelphia, New
York, Albany, Buffalo, Cleveland, Columbus, Indianapolis
and Chicago were visited, in the order named, and at each

204 LIFE AND SERVICES OF AM? All A J£ LINCOLN.

place there were extraordinary demonstrations of respect
and sorrow, reaching Springfield on May 3d, where the
remains laid in state in the hall of the House of Repre-
sentatives, until May 4th, when the final funeral took place.
At each place there were magnificent obsequies, the
body lay in state, and scores of thousands of citizens
crowded to see the remains of their beloved Chief Mag-
istrate, upon whom treason had done its worst.

A SUMMARY.
We have now traced the life of Abraham Lincoln from
the time he first saw the light in the humble cabin of his
father in the wilds of Kentucky, in 1809, down to the
hour that he gasped his last breath in the dwelling in
Washington city, to which he was conveyed after the
assassin Booth had struck his murderous blow. We
have seen how the flat-boatman and the rail-splitter of the
West, climbed step by step until he reached the highest
round of political preferment, as well as the loftiest place
in the affectious of his countrymen. We have seen how
honesty of purpose won its way while beset by the wiles
of political chicanery and deceit. We have seen how
sterling principle lived down fierce opposition until the
false and the wrong were forced to yield to the true and
the just. We have seen a grand illustration of the prac-
tical democratic republicanism of our American system,
in elevating a man from the humblest ranks of the people
to the loftiest place on earth. And, finally, we have seen
how the malignant hate of foiled traitors sped the Par-
thian arrow to the murdering of the most illustrious
citizen of the republic.

" An eagle, tow'ring in his pride of place,
Was by a mousing owl hawked at and killed."

But the principles ennunciated and struggled for by
Abraham Lincoln are as imperishable as truth itself, and

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 205

having performed his great mission upon earth, he has
gone to meet his reward in another sphere, leaving to his
fellow citizens, and to posterity, the enjoyment of the
great reforms, of which he was the instrument in the
hands of Providence, and to American youth the influencce
of his grand example.

THB END.

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